Humans evolved a brain with an extraordinary knack for language, but just how and when we began using language is still largely a mystery. Early human communication may have been in sign language or song, and scientists are studying other animals to learn how human language evolved.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=129155123
Evolving English shows very clearly that there is no single story of the English language. David Crystal explores aspects of its evolution. Introduced by Roger Walshe. From the Evolving English exhibition at the British Library.
From http://www.bl.uk/whatson/podcasts/type/talks/index.html
Brain Science Podcast #30 is a discussion of Christine Kenneally’s book, The First Word: The Search for the Origin of Language.This episode concentrates on the emergence of the study of language evolution (evolutionary linguistics) from an area of area of inquiry that was banned in the 19th century to one that is flourishing and benefiting from new evidence from fields as diverse as genetics and studies in animal communication.