Neurobiological origins of language

[2] Language itself is based on symbols used to represent concepts in the world, and this system appears to be housed in these areas.

The human vocal tract has evolved to be more suited to speaking, with a lower larynx, 90° turn in the windpipe, and large, round tongue.

[5] Motor neurons in birds and humans bypass the unconscious systems in the brainstem to give direct control of the larynx to the brain.

[7][8] Even hand and mouth movements with no vocalizations cause very similar activation patterns in the Broca's area of both humans and monkeys.

Early hominids may have evolved capacities for similar, non-semantic purposes, that were later modified for symbolic language.