Revolutionary Origins of Language

Chris Knight is professor emeritus of anthropology at UCL, a founder of the EVOLANG conference series, and editor of six volumes on evolutionary linguistics. Jerome Lewis is professor of anthropology at UCL and world renowned for over thirty years of research with hunter-gatherers in Central Africa.

“In this bold, rigorous, and highly engaging book, Knight and Lewis argue that cooperation, not cleverness, is key to humans' ability to create and learn language, while providing a very compelling account of how human cooperation itself evolved. An absolute pleasure to read.”—Adele E. Goldberg, author of Explain Me This“Superb. Knight and Lewis are two hunter-gatherers of insights, placing female coalitions (and female scholarship) at the heart of a compelling narrative leading to human language as we know it.”—Cedric Boeckx, author of Reflections on Language Evolution“By centring hunter-gatherer societies and women, Chris Knight and Jerome Lewis deliver a double serving of scholarly rigor and justice in their delightful account of the origins of human language.”—Helen Nde, author of The Watkins Book of African Folklore“Knight and Lewis light-foot it through some dazzlingly rich ethnographic territory using a fusion of linguistic, evolutionary, archaeological and philosophical theory to arrive at the conclusion we somehow always knew was inevitable: that human culture rests on a foundation of female cooperation and shared care. For those seeking convincing alternatives to war-based models, this is scholarship at its finest.”—Morna Finnegan, author of The Political is Personal“Based on fascinating anthropological data and solid arguments, two well-respected anthropologists convincingly explain how social cooperation and trust are essential keys for the origins of language. A fantastic book, highly recommended.”—Luc Steels, Professor Emeritus, Free University of Brussels