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Gestural Theory of Language Evolution

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© Springer International Publishing AG 2017
Todd K. Shackelford
and
Viviana A. Weekes-Shackelford
Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science
10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_3322-1

Gestural Theory
Kristen Gillespie-Lynch1
(1)College of Staten Island & The Graduate Center, The City University of New York, Staten Island,
NY, USA


Kristen Gillespie-Lynch
Email: Kristen.Gillespie@csi.cuny.edu

Without Abstract


Synonyms
Gestural glottogonic theory; Gestural origin theory; Gestural theory


Definitions
The gestural theory of language evolution states that the languages that humans speak today arose
from an earlier form of communication that was expressed primarily through arm and hand gestures.


Introduction
According to the gestural theory of language evolution, our ancestors were able to communicate
intentionally through gestures but could not control their vocalizations. Therefore, they primarily used
gestures to communicate purposefully; spoken language only began to emerge from this primarily
gestural form of communication as our ancestors’ ability to control their vocalizations increased.
Different gestural theories of language evolution have been proposed (e.g., Arbib et al. 2008;
Corballis 2002; Hewes et al. 1973). Gestural theories of language evolution contrast with an opposing
set of theories that assert that it is more parsimonious to assume that language evolved from simpler
forms of primate vocal communication, such as song, because human language is now communicated
primarily through vocalizations (e.g., Livingstone 1973). Current evidence suggests that gestural and
vocal theories of language evolution are not incompatible. In fact, both may be more accurate when
combined into a multimodal theory of language evolution, wherein human language evolved from,
and continues to utilize, mutually informative gestures and vocalizations (e.g., Armstrong 2002;
Masataka 2008).


The History of the Gestural Theory of Language
Evolution
In 1973, Hewes published a paper wherein he synthesized then recent research about nonhuman
primate communication to provide support for a gestural theory of language evolution. According to
Hewes ( 1973) version of the gestural theory of language evolution, our ancestors communicated
primarily through a language composed of arm and hand gestures; spoken speech only later replaced
gestures as the dominant mode of human linguistic communication. Although his theory provided
little detail about the process by which gestures came to be replaced by vocal speech, he speculated
that our ancestors could have learned to speak by imitating animal noises as they began to hunt more
frequently. Hewes emphasized that vocal communication in no way completely replaced gestures in
modern languages as people still use gestures to add nuance and emphasis to their speech. He also
stated that different aspects of modern culture are rooted in gesture (e.g., painting) and vocal
communication (e.g., poetry) respectively.
Hewes began his paper by providing a list of distinguished authors, beginning with Condillac in 1746,
all of whom he believed had also promoted the idea that “man’s first language was primarily gestural”
(Hewes et al. 1973, p. 65). He stated that the descriptions of the gestural theory of language evolution
provided by earlier scholars were limited by their lack of access to then recent discoveries about
primate communication. Key findings that Hewes used to support a gestural theory of language
evolution included: (1) evidence that nonhuman primates (e.g., chimpanzees), who even after years of
teaching cannot learn to express more than a few words through speech, can be taught to
communicate effectively through sign language (e.g., Gardner and Gardner 1969), (2) anecdotal
evidence that chimpanzees commonly communicate through gestures (e.g., Van Lawick-Goodall
1968), (3) evidence that nonhuman primates’ calls are involuntary emotional reactions that are emitted
regardless of whether others are around to hear them (e.g., Bates 1970), (4) evidence that our
ancestors could not produce certain sounds that are essential for modern human speech (i.e., the
vowels [a], [i], and [u]) derived by reconstructing the vocal apparatus of ancient nonhuman apes from
fossils (Lieberman et al. 1972), and (5) evidence that skilled motor movements, such as those required
to use tools, and language are both primarily controlled by the left side of the brain (Lenneberg 1967a
as cited by Hewes et al. 1973).
A number of subsequent researchers have extended upon Hewes’ work to provide further evidence for
and alternative conceptualizations of a gestural theory of language (e.g., Arbib et al. 2008; Armstrong
2002; Bonvillian et al. 1997; Corballis 2009; Pollick and De Waal 2007; Skoyles 2000). For example,
Bonvillian et al. ( 1997) described a study conducted over 400 years ago by Akbar, the then emperor
of Hindustan, that revealed that infants reared by mute nurses never learned to speak and only
communicated with gestures; they asserted that this study provided evidence for a gestural theory of
language evolution.
Subsequent research has provided support for a number of the pieces of evidence that Hewes’ used to
support his version of the gestural theory of language. For example, subsequent research has
demonstrated that other apes (besides the chimpanzees who learned sign language with the Gardners),
including orangutans and gorillas, also learned to communicate effectively through sign language but
not through spoken language (e.g., Miles 1990; Patterson 1978). Subsequent research has also
provided extensive support for his claim that nonhuman apes commonly communicate through
gesture (e.g., Pollick and De Waal 2007; Roberts and Roberts 2016). In addition, striking
commonalities between nonhuman and human primates have been observed in the types of gestures
they use and the process by which their gestures often develop (i.e., during meaningful interactive
routines; Bard et al. 2014; Gillespie-Lynch et al. 2014).
Subsequent studies have also supported Hewes’ assertion that the gestural communication of
nonhuman primates is far more flexible than their vocal communication (e.g., Pollick and De Waal
2007). However, more recent research has not supported his assertion that apes are not able to control
their vocalizations at all. Instead, research demonstrates that nonhuman primates adapt their
vocalizations and their gestures to shifting social situations. For example, chimpanzees modify their
vocalizations based on whether dominant individuals are present (Laporte and Zuberbühler 2010) and
more often use gestures that make a noise which can be heard at a distance, like drumming, when they
have a larger number of other apes who they are close with to stay in touch with (Roberts and Roberts
2016).
Subsequent research has also challenged Hewes’ assertion that our ancestors were incapable of
producing human-like speech sounds by critiquing Lieberman and colleagues’ reconstruction of the
vocal apparatus of a Neanderthal. For example, Falk ( 1975) asserted that the reconstruction was
inaccurate because a key bone (the hyoid bone) was positioned too high in the larynx (the voice box)
in the process of reconstruction; not only would an animal with such a high hyoid bone not have been
able to communicate through articulate speech, it also would not have been able to swallow. Indeed, a
subsequent study utilizing the fossil of an ancestral ape with a complete hyoid bone revealed that the
structure of the hyoid bone was remarkably similar to that of a modern human, which the researchers
interpreted as evidence that ancestral apes were capable of producing modern speech sounds after all
(Arensburg et al. 1990).
Subsequent researchers have extended upon Hewes’ assertion that skilled motor movements and
language are typically both supported by the left side of the brain by focusing on specific regions of
the brain that support both language and skilled motor movements (e.g., the mirror neuron system) to
develop their own adaptations of a gestural theory of language evolution. The mirror neuron system
consists of neurons in different regions of the brain that respond when primates see others make a
movement or when they do the same movement themselves. This system is believed to help primates
understand one another’s intentions and learn from one another.
Arbib et al. ( 2008) and Corballis ( 2009) both indicated that the presence of mirror neurons within a
portion of Broca’s area (an area in the prefrontal lobe of human brains that supports the production of
both language and skilled movements) and its homologue (an area with a similar position and
structure) in nonhuman primates provides evidence for their respective adaptations of a gestural
theory of language evolution. Mirror neurons are distributed in many regions throughout the brain
including a network of regions that support language (Fogassi and Ferrari 2007). Both Arbib and
Corballis stated that mirror neurons could provide language learners, including our ancestors who
were developing language, with the insights about the intentions and perspectives of those they were
communicating with needed to produce and understand shared communication. Both researchers
attempted to address a key gap in Hewes ( 1973) paper, specifically his lack of clarity about how
gesture was eventually supplanted by vocal communication. However, they did so in different ways.
Arbib et al. ( 2008) asserted that the ability to imitate others that mirror neurons provide allowed our
ancestors to learn to pantomime one another and that these early pantomimes developed into
“protosign” or conventionalized gestures. He believed that “protosign” served as the foundation for
“protospeech” or conventionalized vocalizations and that “protosign” and “protospeech” evolved
together to become “protolanguage” (an early form of language which he believed to be multimodal).
Although Arbib believed that language grew to be multimodal with time, he stated that gesture played
the initial role in allowing our ancestors to develop language.
Corballis ( 2009) also focused his adaptation of the gestural theory of language evolution on the
mirror neuron system. He also emphasized the support that recent evidence demonstrating that signed
languages are as grammatically complex as spoken language provides for a gestural theory of
language (Armstrong 2002). Unlike Arbib, Corballis did not believe that language ever transitioned
from gesture into either a vocal or an explicitly multimodal mode of communication. Instead, he
stated that modern “language, whether spoken or signed, can be viewed as a gestural system, evolving
from the so-called mirror system in the primate brain” (p. 19). He supported his assertion that vocal
language is a type of gesture by referring to the motor theory of speech perception. This theory states
that our understanding of language is derived from how words are produced rather than the specific
sounds produced (Liberman et al. 1967). Corballis stated that a gradual transition from manual
gestures to increasing use of gestures of the face and mouth could have co-occurred with the
increasing involvement of the hands in tool manufacture and use.
Further support for a gestural theory of language evolution has arisen from the field of developmental
psychology. Infants typically learn to express concepts first through gestures (e.g., by pointing at a
cat) before later expressing them through spoken speech (e.g., by saying the word “cat”; Capirci et al.
2005). A recent study evaluated if gesture supports the symbolic development of both human and
nonhuman primates by examining the gestural and symbolic development of language-enculturated
(e.g., reared in language-enriched environments) primates possessing a common immediate ancestor
(Gillespie-Lynch et al. 2014). Communicative behaviors observed among multiple species sharing a
common ancestor are likely to have been present in the common ancestor. A chimpanzee, a bonobo,
and a human child were reared in language-enriched environments and evaluated at comparable stages
of communicative development. Similarities in the form and function of many gestures produced by
the chimpanzee, bonobo, and human child suggest that gestural skills may indeed have contributed to
linguistic development for our common ancestor. Indeed, a developmental transition from greater
reliance on gesture to increased reliance on linguistic symbols was present for all three species though
it was more pronounced for the child than the apes. However, multimodal expressions of
communicative intent (e.g., pairing vocalization with eye-contact) were typical for the child, but far
less common for the apes. This direct comparison of the development of members of three species of
apes when raised in similar environments provided support for the gestural theory of language
development but also suggested that increasing multimodal communication (or pairing of gestures and
vocalization) supported the emergence of language among the ancestors of humans.


Conclusions
Although some of the evidence put forth in support of different adaptations of the gestural theory of
language evolution has turned out to be less accurate than other evidence over time, a substantial body
of evidence from multiple domains of research has been put forth to support gestural theories of
language evolution. This body of evidence has grown increasingly more robust over time. Therefore,
available evidence strongly suggests that gestures played an important role in the evolution of
language and supports a version of the gestural theory of language.
However, evidence that gestures preceded rather than co-occurred with vocalizations in supporting the
evolution of language remains very limited. Given that many researchers believe that language is
currently multimodal (e.g., Arbib et al. 2008; McNeill 1985), gestural theories of language evolution
may be more parsimonious if adapted into a multimodal theory of language evolution, wherein human
language evolved from, and continues to utilize, mutually informative gestures and vocalizations
(Armstrong 2002; Masataka 2008). Indeed, Hewes cited Condillac as one of the earlier scholars to put
forth a gestural theory of language. However, Condillac and Aarsleff’s ( 2001/1746) description of the
process by which language evolved is more consistent with a multimodal than a gestural theory of the
evolution of language. Condillac stated that spoken language developed from a “language of action”
which consisted of a combination of gestures and vocalizations wherein our ancestors connected their
“cries with some movement, gesture or action that made the expression more striking.” (Condillac and
Aarsleff 2001/1746, p. 114).


Cross-References
Language and Handedness
Language Modularity
Linguistic Evolution
Neurobiology of Language
Primate Gesture
Sign Language


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