In the last ten years, researchers have accepted that language is the outcome of normal evolutionary processes. This has led to a flurry of new work, resulting in some important steps forward in our understanding of language origin. This paper outlines the highlights. The location of proto-humans has been confirmed as Africa, and African hominids are more widely scattered than was previously assumed. Some probably moved out of Africa earlier than was once thought likely. Evolutionary theory has also been explored in more depth. The probable date of language origin has moved earlier, and the precursors of language have been examined, resulting in a more sophisticated understanding of symbolic communication. ‘Mirror neurons’ have been proposed as relevant to the neurological underpinnings of mind-reading, which may underlie the ‘naming insight’. A proto-language stage probably preceded full language, and this proto-language may have involved several layers, which are still visible in language today.

Accounts of the evolution of human language must, by their very nature, express claims of a historical sort: claims about why, when, where or how human language emerged and/or developed in some distant past. What is more, it is of the essence of those claims that they are put forward in the absence of direct evidence about the events and factors that may or may not have been involved in the evolution of language. In modern work on language evolution, however, scholars have come up with various strategies aimed at lessening or even solving this problem of evidential paucity. One of these approaches starts from the assumption that language evolution can be studied by examining other phenomena about which there is direct evidence. This article sets out, in informal terms, what it is to use such phenomena as windows on language evolution.

Baron Pierre de Coubertin purported to follow the traditions of the ancient Olympic Games, but adapted them to fit his own political, social, and sporting conceptions. From their very beginning, the modern Games have had aspirations that have extended beyond sport. After brief comments on corruption, philosophy of life, and spectacle, this essay examines the Olympic Games in terms of amateurism and professionalism; winning and the joy of participation; nationalism and ultra-nationalism; the medal count; war, violence, and peace; performance-enhancing drugs; women and minorities; and the Americanization of the Games.

The purpose of this paper is to raise the question of the relative roles of cognitive and functional factors in the evolution of grammar. The conclusion is that they have both played important roles, although unbalanced ones. Human language originated with the linking of conceptual structures and the vocal output system. In other words, cognitive factors were the first to shape grammar. But with the passage of time, the needs of communication came to play an ever-more important role in grammar. Human language today hence reflects the influence of both types of factors.