Comment by pigpop

> It’s likely language evolved as an internal tool for thought and executive function, and externalization of language came afterwards as a means to transmit our thoughts to the minds of other humans

Isn't this in contradiction to the observations of severely neglected or feral children who having never learned language as a child cannot learn it later in life?

How would any form of inner language evolve in the first place for executive function?

Communication first makes a lot more sense evolutionarily since the ability to communicate more information creates a clear improvement in fitness e.g. being able to signal danger improves survival. It is also more amenable to small improvements in capacity e.g. going from "danger" to "danger wolf" to "danger wolf behind" etc. and we observe these language primitives in other species.

Internal language seems much more likely to be a later development especially given that there are people today who claim they have none / need none and yet still possess the ability to communicate with others and manage their lives normally.