innateness hypothesis: the idea that humans are genetically equipped to acquire language
We can think of the human baby in its first few years as a living example of some of these physical changes taking place.
Even children who are born deaf (and do not develop speech) become fluent sign language users, given appropriate circumstances, very early in life.
This seems to indicate that human offspring are born with a special capacity for language. It is innate, no other creature seems to have it and it is not tied to a specific variety of language.
Is it possible that this language capacity is genetically hardwired in the newborn human?
As a solution to the puzzle of the origins of language, the innateness hypothesis would seem to point to something in human genetics.
In the study of human development, a number of gene mutations have been identified that relate to changes in the human diet, especially those resulting in an increase in calorie intake, possibly tied to the ability to digest starch in food and a substantial increase in glucose production.