MPI Colloquium Sabine Stoll

Language Acquisition in the Light of Evolution

Abstract:

Human language is a uniquely complex, flexible, and fully learned communication system, yet its evolutionary origins remain unclear. In this talk, I explore what first language acquisition can reveal about language evolution. Human children must acquire every aspect of their linguistic system and can learn any language, despite the lack of clear structural universals and immense cross-linguistic diversity. Drawing on data from typologically and socially maximally diverse languages, I examine how biological predispositions, linguistic structures, and social environments interact in shaping acquisition. These insights point to potential universals in learning and input, offering a window into the evolutionary foundations of the human capacity for language.