Abstract
This chapter examines the question of which aspects of language are uniquely human and uniquely linguistic in light of suggestions by Hauser, Chomsky, and Fitch that the only such aspect is syntactic recursion. The hypothesis is problematic. It ignores the many aspects of grammar that are not recursive, such as phonology, morphology, case, agreement, and many properties of words. It is inconsistent with the anatomy and neural control of the human vocal tract. The recursion-only claim appears to be motivated by Chomsky’s approach to syntax, the Minimalist Program, which de-emphasizes the same aspects of language. The approach, however, is sufficiently problematic that it cannot be used to support claims about evolution. This chapter contests related arguments that language is not an adaptation, namely that it is “perfect,” non-redundant, unusable in any partial form, and badly designed for communication. The hypothesis that language is a complex adaptation for communication which evolved piecemeal avoids these problems.