Linguistics and English Language

PPLS Professor to deliver talk on the evolution of language

Professor Simon Kirby will deliver his talk “How do languages evolve?” to an online audience in an event next week, organised by The Garden.

Simon Kirby

The Garden launched last year with the aim of building a global community for the curious that would enable anyone to learn from experts and each other, wherever they are in the world.

The organisation was cofounded by CEO Sophie Adelman who has dedicated her career to creating access to learning opportunities, having previously cofounded Multiverse.io; and CTO, Simon Lambert who has led Technology & Product organisations at some of the UK's most well-known marketplace & e-commerce companies.

The Garden offers new weekly talks from expert speakers on a wide range of topics including philosophy, technology, entertainment and history.   

In his talk, Professor Kirby will explain why humans are the only species to evolve language and some of the theories about when and how this ability to acquire and use language occurred in human history. He will also share insights from observing the birth and development of new sign languages and how this matches his experiments of creating languages in a lab to answer the question: how do languages evolve?

The talk is on Thursday 14th July begins at 7:30pm and non-members can attend for free. The talk will be available on demand shortly after.

To book your place please visit The Garden website.

The Garden is thrilled to host a talk with Professor Simon Kirby on his research on the evolution of language.  Language is not only a vital part of human connection, but it's also unique to our species and Professor Kirby's infectious passion and knowledge will be a real treat for our audience, and will hopefully inspire those with a curiosity to learn.

Ushma VyasSenior Producer

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