Mimetic theory of speech origins

In evolutionary anthropology and evolutionary linguistics, the mimetic theory of speech origins is an analysis of the factors leading to the evolution of language in human ancestors, typically during the Homo erectus era.

This theory is most commonly associated with Merlin Donald, who developed the idea in his 1991 book Origins of the Modern Mind. He viewed mimetic theory as the fundamental pillar in his three-part model of the development of symbolic culture and symbolic cognition.