Impact of Language

CAT 2019 Slot 2 · VARC · Medium · Verbal Ability

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The passage given below is followed by four alternate summaries. Choose the option that best captures the essence of the passage.

Language is an autapomorphy found only in our lineage, and not shared with other branches of our group such as primates. We also have no definitive evidence that any species other than Homo sapiens ever had language. However, it must be noted straightaway that 'language' is not a monolithic entity, but rather a complex bundle of traits that must have evolved over a significant time frame…. Moreover, language crucially draws on aspects of cognition that are long established in the primate lineage, such as memory: the language faculty as a whole comprises more than just the uniquely linguistic features.

  1. A.

    Language, a derived trait found only in humans, has evolved over time and involves memory.

  2. B.

    Language is a distinctively human feature as there is no evidence of the existence of language in any other species.

  3. C.

    Language evolved with linguistic features building on features of cognition such as memory.

  4. D.

    Language is not a single, uniform entity but the end result of a long and complex process of linguistic evolution.

Answer

C

Explanation

The passage highlights that language is not monolithic but a complex bundle of traits drawing on cognitive features established earlier, such as memory. Option C captures this crucial link between linguistic evolution and existing cognitive features.

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