Spoken Language

The specific reasons for the development of the spoken language of humans is still being disputed at this very point in time. Whether it be an improvement over gestural language which can be seen in the behaviour of primates with the help of humans, or by other factors such as social rank or in this specific paper, interpersonal relationships, it does not change the overall importance of spoken language as an evolutionary marvel. The interpersonal relations of a group-living species prompted the need for a new system of communication outside the realm of “grooming” one another. Without spoken language the communities of animals would be limited in size. The act of manually grooming has been seen as a way of having interpersonal relations
This is because vocal communication is not limited to the medium of physical exchanges or one-on-one endeavors such as grooming (Cheney & Seyfarth 1990). Within the realm of interpersonal relations, language also has been seen to be used for the purpose becoming a means of bonding people into a union based solely on companionship (Malinowski 1923). However, Malinowski (1923) also thought that only specific “civilised societies” would use language for the case of transmission of information. This is clearly a skewed view of reality, and in fact it has been shown to be untrue. Soskin & John (1963) had an American couple record their verbal exchanges and after listening to over 2,000 messages between the two, 75% of their exchanges held no transmission of facts. This begs the question if the transfer of information is absolutely necessary part of most verbal
As stated above, what was most necessary to bring out the need for vocal language would have been growing populations and the need to develop interpersonal relationships in a much more efficient manner (Dunbar 1996). This can be seen through the communication of infants with their caretakers. Locke (1996) brings this up to show that the development of a relationship between a mother and her child can be done through vocal exchanges. The communication between the two does not have anything to do with transmission of facts; a baby does not have the rationalization capabilities of a full grown adult, which means that they will be unable to accurately describe anything. Bowlby (1969) showed evidence that these interchanges between the mother and baby were so that the proximity between the two of them stayed close. This type of behavior can also be seen in pygmy marmosets. The behaviors appear to affect the listeners of the exchanges as well as the care that the baby receives (Snowdon, Elowson & Roush