Evolutionary biologists have established the general processes by which communication systems evolve. I will present both theoretical and experimental research that shows that the evolution of sophisticated social cognition allowed humans to transcend these processes, and hence create language and other forms of ostensive communication. In particular, I will argue that the origins of widespread combinatorial communication, such as we see in languages, depends upon advanced mind-reading abilities, and therefore must have followed rather than preceded the origins of sophisticated social cognition.