Language Evolution

edited by Morten H. Christiansen and Simon Kirby

- a collection of essays on the origins and evolution of language by scholars from a range of fields, including linguistics, archaeology, cognitive science, neuroscience, psychology and biology. Discusses the latest theories and current controveries.

Buy from: Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk

The Seeds of Speech

by Jean Aitchinson

- explores the origins of human language and how it evolved, looking for possible precursors to language in animal communication.

Buy from: Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk

From Lucy to Language

by Donald Johanson

- an illustrated introduction to paleoanthropology.

Buy from: Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk

The Power of Babel: A Natural History of Language

by John McWhorter

- explores the ways in which languages change, intertwine and disappear. Explains how a single original language developed into the 6,000 or so languages spoken today. Compares linguistic change to biological evolution.

Buy from: Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk

Approaches to the Evolution of Language

by James R. Hurford et al

- examines language from a neo-Darwinian point of view with contributions from linguists, psychologists, and paleoanthropologists.

Buy from: Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk

The Origin of Language : Tracing the Evolution of the Mother Tongue

by Merritt Ruhlen

Buy from: Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk

The Atlas of Languages: The Origin and Development of Languages Throughout the World

by Bernard Comrie, Stephen Matthews and Maria Polinsky (Editors)

Buy from: Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk

From Hand to Mouth : The Origins of Language

by Michael C. Corballis

- the central theory of this book is that human language started with gestures then later evolved into speech.

Buy from: Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk

Grooming, Gossip and the Evolution of Language

by Robin Dunbar

- argues confincingly that language is the human equivalent of grooming in other apes and monkeys, and that it evolved to enable us to cope with larger group sizes. Very interesting.

Buy from: Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk