The Origins of Language: What Nonhuman Primates Can Tell Us

by Barbara J. King (Editor)

Is human language unique in the animal world, or does it have meaningful precursors in animal communication? In The Origins of Language , ten primatologists and paleoanthropologists conduct a comprehensive examination of the nonhuman primate data, discussing different views of what language is and suggesting how the primatological perspective can be used to fashion more rigorous theories of language origins and evolution. Together, the essays make a powerful case against the position that language is an innate biological system unique to humans and demonstrate that many aspects of language likely have a long evolutionary history-one that extends back beyond hominids to encompass our closest living relatives in the animal world.

464 pages, Hardcover

First published November 17, 1999

About the author

Barbara J. King
The College of William and Mary
Ph.D., University of Oklahoma

Barbara J. King is a biological anthropologist and Professor of Anthropology at The College of William and Mary. Professor King received her B.A. in anthropology from Douglass College, Rutgers University, and earned her M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Oklahoma.

Professor King’s research interests concern the social communication of the great apes, the closest living relatives to humans. She has studied ape and monkey behavior in Gabon, Kenya, and at the Language Research Center at Georgia State University. The recipient of a Guggenheim Foundation Fellowship, she has published three books on anthropology, including The Information Continuum: Social Information Transfer in Monkeys, Apes, and Hominids.

At William and Mary, Professor King has won four teaching awards: The William and Mary Alumni Association Teaching Award, the College’s Thomas Jefferson Teaching Award, the Virginia State Council of Higher Education’s Outstanding Faculty Award, and the designation of University Professor for Teaching Excellence, 1999–2002.