Modes of Communication: Language and Art Among living beings, it is humans alone that have a language. There are several views on language development: ( ) that hominid language involved gestures or hand movements; ( ) that spoken language was preceded by vocal but non-verbal communication such as singing or humming; ( ) that human speech probably began with calls like the ones that have been observed among primates. Humans may have possessed a small number of speech sounds in the initial stage. Gradually, these may have developed into language.
When did spoken language emerge? It has been suggested that the brain of Homo habilis had certain features which would have made it possible for them to speak. Thus, language may have developed as early as mya. The evolution of the vocal tract was equally important.
This occurred around , years ago. It is more specifically associated with modern humans. A third suggestion is that language developed around the same time as art, that is, around , - , years ago. The development of spoken language has been seen as closely connected with art, since both are media for communication.