Language – the big unknown

Language is our everyday tool. We chat, listen, discuss, write, think and formulate the whole day. Nevertheless, little is known so far about this natural given and still highly complex ability. Which speed rate is the best so that the other one picks up the most content? Why is language built as it is? And what happens when one of the crucial brain areas fails? Two new research groups at MPI CBS face these questions – to bring more clarity into this human unique capability.

"Apes communicate, humans have language"

Angela D. Friederici, from the Max-Planck-Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences (MPI CBS), together with colleagues from the MPI for Evolutionary Anthropology wants to figure out which brain structures and genes make the situation different for humans. In the following interview Friederici talks about why we still know so little about the differences between humans and apes – and why even the existing knowledge could be questioned by new findings.