Human Language, Animal Communication

Science for the Public: Contemporary Science Issues and Innovations
April 26, 2021 video-recording by Belmont Media Center Community TV

Philip Lieberman, Ph.D., George Hazard Crooker University Professor Emeritus, Brown University

Dr. Lieberman is a distinguished authority on the evolution of human language. In this discussion, he explains how the cognitive and physical apparatus for language evolved. He addresses the distinction between human language and the communication systems of diverse animals. He also discusses the issue of whether Neanderthals developed real language.

Philip Lieberman is the author of numerous books that address the nature of language and its evolution.

Philip Lieberman on NPR, 2010 From Grunting To Gabbing: Why Humans Can Talk

Philip Lieberman (2017) The Theory That Changed Everything: