Department of Anthropology, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027, USA.
Behav Brain Sci. 2012 Aug;35(4):226. doi: 10.1017/S0140525X11002019. Epub 2012 Jun 15.
Design features for language and stone toolmaking (not tool use) involve similar if not homologous cognitive processes. Both are arbitrary transformations of internal "intrinsic" symbolization, whereas non-human tool using is mostly an iconic transformation. The major discontinuity between humans and non-humans (chimpanzees) is language. The presence of stone tools made to standardized patterns suggests communicative and social control skills that involved language.
语言和石器制造（而非工具使用）的设计特征涉及相似的认知过程，如果不是同源的话。两者都是对内“内在”符号化的任意转换，而非人类的工具使用主要是一种形象化的转换。人类（黑猩猩）与非人类之间的主要区别是语言。按照标准化模式制造的石器的存在表明，涉及语言的交际和社会控制技能。
