How popular is Gemma? Gemma is a very popular first name for females (#1711 out of 4276, Top 40%) and also a very popular surname for both adults and children (#28049 out of 150436, Top 19%). (2000 U.S. CENSUS)
Chomsky and Gould hypothesize that language may have evolved simply because the physical structure of the brain evolved, or because cognitive structures that were used for things like tool making or rule learning were also good for complex communication.
Relying heavily on Atkinson's work, a subsequent study has explored the rate at which phonemes develop naturally, comparing this rate to some of Africa's oldest languages. The results suggest that language first evolved around 350,000-150,000 years ago, which is around the time when modern Homo sapiens evolved.