The origin of language is a problem involving complex interactions between a number

of different evolving systems. Language per se, regarded as a cultural/memetic entity,

is one of the evolving systems, and its evolution is of major importance in the origin

of modern human language.

Possible structural parallels between language evolution and biological evolution are

discussed. Genes, organisms, and species are key concepts in biology, and an understanding

of the corresponding levels in language is needed for any fruitful linguistic application

of theoretical tools from evolutionary biology. I identify candidate linguistic

’genes’, ’organisms’ and ’species’, and discuss implications for language evolution.