We get more technical in this fourth episode of our series on language. We continue with the gradualist theory of the origins of language by looking at three key areas: the brain, speech production and gestures. We consider whether there are regions of the brain associated with language, whether there is a language gene and how the speech apparatus works. We also consider sign language and gestures and discuss whether these could have been the origins of language in humans and hominids like Homo erectus.  Show notesThe Here and Now Podcast Language SeriesThe human language faculty as an organ. S. Anderson & D. Lightfoot (2000)Masters of the planet: The search for our human origins. I. Tattersall (2013)Natural language and natural selection. S. Pinker & P. Bloom (1990)The evolution of language – W. T. Fitch (2010)The faculty of language: What is it, who has it and how did it evolve? (Hauser, Chomsky & Fitch, 2002)Internal cranial features of the Mojokerto child fossil (East Java, Indonesia) (2005)Broca’s area network in language function. B. Bernal, A. Ardila & M. Rosselli (2015)Birds share language gene with humansFOXP2 - WikipediaLanguage is in the genes Diverse genome upends understanding of how language evolvedEvolution of a single gene led to language Mirror neurons and the evolution of language. M. Corballis (2009)How language began: Gesture and speech in human evolution. D. McNeill (2012)The descended larynx is not uniquely human. W. T. Fitch & D. Reby (2001)From grunting to grabbing: Why humans can talk The truth about language: What it is and where it came from. M. Corballis (2017)The HeSupport the show (https://www.patreon.com/thehereandnowpodcast)