Question: Who created language as i've always thought in my opinion its by far the most important invention in human history and why did they chose it to be from word :)

Alex Swainson answered on 26 Mar 2026:

From what I understand (though I’m not an expert in this area of neuroscience, so may be talking nonsense), it’s less that language was created, and more that it evolved from other forms of communication. There are currently two main theories – 1) that we developed language in the way it is seen in birds (based on sounds), and 2) that we developed language in the way it is seen in apes (based on gestures).

Birds have specialised areas of their brain that learn the sounds they hear, allowing them to develop their stereotypical calls. This happens when they are young, and we have similar areas in our brains that may allow us to do the same.

Apes, on the other hand, communicate primarily via gestures and some basic sounds. This is controlled by an area of the brain that sits inside the motor system, and again, we have a similar area of our brains which have been seen to be involved in language/ speech production.

My thoughts are that its likely to be a combination of the two!

As for how language in the way we know it developed, this is likely due to the way humans fragmented across the earth. What was once likely a shared form of communication diversified and evolved independently as groups of humans moved into different parts of the world, creating the different languages and dialects we see today.