现代语言学始终与语言哲学同生共长。演化语言学的出现不仅是对传统语言学静态研究的挑战，也为语言哲学研究提供了全新的研究方向。演化语言学是在现代语言科学的背景下应运而生的，其基本思想主要来自自然科学的研究成果。然而，它用进化论的方法解释人类语言的起源与发展，而进化论本身依然存在许多无法解释的难题；而且，语言的演变并非简单的生物进化过程，仅仅通过科学主义思维方式难以解释语言演化的复杂过程，必须同时运用其他解释方式。而现代语言哲学关注语言如何表征世界，对人类语言演化的解释尤其深刻。从哲学视角看，对人类语言从信号（signal）到符号（symbol）演化过程的考古考察，是演化语言学研究的重要成果，也为哲学家的语言研究走向抽象化和逻辑化提供了重要科学依据。从信号到符号的转变，不仅是人类语言演化的重要转折，而且是人类认识世界过程中出现的伟大革命。

Modern linguistics has developed in close connection with the philosophy of language. The emergence of evolutionary linguistics not only challenges the static orientation  of traditional linguistic research but also opens up  a new direction for research on the philosophy of language. Evolutionary linguistics emerged against the backdrop of modern linguistic science, and its fundamental ideas are primarily derived from  the natural sciences. Yet, when evolutionary methods are applied to the origin and development of human language, evolutionary theory itself still faces many unresolved challenges. Language evolution is not a simple biological evolutionary process, nor can its complex process of linguistic evolution  be adequately explained through a purely scientific mode of thought; other explanatory approaches must be employed simultaneously. Modern philosophy of language, with its central concern for how language represents the world, offers particularly profound insights into the evolution of human language. From a philosophical perspective, the archaeological examination of the transition  from signal to symbol represents a significant achievement of evolutionary linguistics and provides crucial scientific grounds for philosophers to advance their study of language toward abstraction and logical analysis.  The transition from signal to symbol is not only a decisive  turning point in the evolution of human language but also a great revolution in humanity’s way of understanding the world.