What do we really think about humour? A bit of silly word‑play, a welcome distraction, a linguistic oddity that entertains but doesn’t do much heavy lifting? What if its role is far more consequential—woven into the very origins of grammar, cognition & human evolution itself? A new paper by Ljiljana Progovac (Wayne State University), published in PNAS Nexus, argues exactly that.
The study
Progovac’s work blends linguistic reconstruction, cross‑linguistic evidence, evolutionary theory & neuroimaging. Instead of looking at modern sentences, she reverse‑engineers grammar to identify “living fossils”: simple verb+noun compounds (kill‑joy, scare‑crow, pinch‑penny) that mirror what early grammar may have looked like.
These forms are then examined through fMRI studies showing that such “flat” structures activate brain regions linked to metaphor, imagery & naming (the right Brodmann Area 37, to be exact), rather than the full syntactic machinery used for complex sentences. The claim: early language was playful, metaphorical & socially strategic long before it became logical or propositional.
The findings
Progovac proposes that human evolution involved “survival of the wittiest”. Key insights include:
- Early grammar likely consisted of two‑word verb+noun combinations without subject/object marking. These forms still exist today as linguistic fossils.
- Across cultures, verbal agility, humour & rhetorical skill correlate with status & reproductive success. Leaders are often “powerful due to their words”.
- These early compounds specialise in metaphor, insult & humour -functions that enable cognitive contest without physical aggression.
- fMRI evidence shows that processing these “fossil” structures activates imagery‑related regions, suggesting they were ideal for nicknaming, teasing & social signalling.
- Sexual selection favours humour & quick‑wittedness: studies show women prefer partners who produce humour, while men increase verbal creativity in competitive contexts.
- Grammar, humour, metaphor & reduced aggression share neural pathways, hinting at co‑evolution.
- The earliest language may have been less about transmitting information & more about performing identity, attracting mates & outwitting rivals.
Imagine an early compound like “spark‑mind” or “bone‑runner”. It’s vivid, metaphorical & socially loaded. It doesn’t need full grammar to communicate personality, status or humour. It’s language as art -long before language as logic.
It’s tempting to think humour entered the picture late, once language was already complex enough to support jokes. Progovac’s argument flips that assumption. The earliest verb+noun combinations behave like miniature acts of playful cognition: they rely on incongruity, exaggeration & vivid imagery, the same ingredients that underpin humour today. Crucially, these forms appear in contexts of teasing, nicknaming & social performance across cultures, suggesting that early language wasn’t just about transmitting information but about attracting attention, signalling identity & outmanoeuvring rivals. In this sense, humour isn’t a modern embellishment—it’s one of the earliest reasons humans bothered to combine words at all.
Teacher Takeaways?
This research clearly isn’t a recipe for classroom practice, but it does remind us that:
- Grammar began as play, not as logic.
- Metaphor is foundational to human cognition.
- Humour is biologically & socially significant, not trivial.
When learners coin odd phrases, enjoy wordplay or experiment with metaphor, they’re tapping into one of the oldest human linguistic instincts.
Do you leave room for linguistic playfulness in your classroom?
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