— With the rise of neo-darwinism, speculation on the origin of language has taken a different turn. It is the justification provided by its adaptational function that is now in question. The correlation between linguistics and genetics meanwhile remains uncertain. Our perspective in this paper does not exclude the possibility that languages are cultural creations. Their origin would then coexist along with their history. Our intention is more specifically to reveal the problematic underlying the genesis of different cultures, that is to say the « missing link » that separates phylogenesis and ontogenesis. This means studying the conditions of emergence of the semiotic world that characterises humanity.