The Lardil male initiate language, Damin, is a singular linguistic system. Traditionally used by second-order male initiates, or warama, Damin has a lexicon of no more than 150 distinct morphemes and a phonology using ejectives and clicks—sound types unattested in other Australian languages. These esoteric features have led scholars to see Damin as an artificial or invented language. It is claimed that the linguistic artificiality label prevents explanation as much as it helps it. This article demonstrates that the singular features of Damin evolved in an emergent and unplanned way in which conventionalized paralinguistic phonations became semanticized as they were linked up with a signed language, Marlda Kangka, used by first-order male initiates, or luruku.