This article reports on a study that took the 'Baldwin effect' seriously when dealing with the emergence of language in humans. The Baldwin effect will predict that if an species or population consistently develops physical traits in response to the environment that raises survival value, such traits will eventually become encoded into the genes (or perhaps a pre-disposition for them will become encoded). Taking this as a possible way that language could have developed, the study tried to model a language environment that would allow for the gradual encoding of language genes. This environment proved unrealistic, requiring long-standing cultural and linguistic stability that was unlikely given humans' history of mobility, cultural change, and the multiplicity of languages that we have. The conclusion was that the biological bases for language aren't specific language genes but older physical structures. On the positive side of the theory, Nick Chater suggests human language is due to cultural evolution.
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