The Seeds of Speech:Language Origin and Evolution Human language is a weird communication system:it has more in common with birdsong than withthe calls of other primates.Jean Aitchison explores the origins of human language and how it has evolved.She likens the search to a vast prehistoric jigsaw puzzle,in which numerous fragments of evidence must be assembled.Such evidence is pieced together from a mixture of linguistic and non-linguistic sources like evolution theory,archaeology,psychology,and anthropology.The Seeds of Speech is an accessible and wide-ranging introduction to the origins and evolution of human language.

"We must be grateful to Jean Aitchison for so very readably assembling a good deal of recent work that might seem to hint at how language began...the author goes out of her way to offer a restful read to all comers."