ABSTRACT
The major nonphysical forms of social play observed in children (e.g., sociodramatic play, games with rules, language play) are a consequence of our well-developed symbolic and communicative abilities (especially language abilities), and as such appear to be uniquely human. Given the recency of the evolution of language in the genus Homo (most scholars estimate that conventional language emerged about .25 million years ago-see Bickerton, 1990; Dunbar, 1993; Liberman, 1991), the forms of play dependent on language have a much shorter evolutionary history than other types, such as playfighting and locomotor play. This does not mean, however, that these forms have not been influenced by natural selection. Language was probably incorporated into children’s play as language evolved, and may even have influenced the evolution of play. Moreover, given the importance of language in enculturation, play forms that incorporated language may have had a significant role in cultural evolution as well. For example, anthropologists have illustrated how various culturally transmitted children’s games serve important enculturation functions (e.g., Sutton-Smith, 1977).
