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Holophrasis and the protolanguage spectrum

Abstract

Much of the debate concerning the question "Was Protolanguage Holophrastic?" assumes that protolanguage existed as a single, stable transitional form between communication systems akin to those of modern primates and human languages as we know them today. The present paper argues for a spectrum of protolanguages preceding modern languages emphasizing that (i) protospeech was intertwined with protosign and gesture; (ii) grammar emerged from a growing population of constructions; and (iii) an increasing protolexicon drove the emergence of phonological structure. This framework weakens arguments for the view that the earliest protolanguages were not holophrastic while advancing the claim that protolanguages became increasingly compositional over time en route to the emergence of true languages.

Abstract

Much of the debate concerning the question "Was Protolanguage Holophrastic?" assumes that protolanguage existed as a single, stable transitional form between communication systems akin to those of modern primates and human languages as we know them today. The present paper argues for a spectrum of protolanguages preceding modern languages emphasizing that (i) protospeech was intertwined with protosign and gesture; (ii) grammar emerged from a growing population of constructions; and (iii) an increasing protolexicon drove the emergence of phonological structure. This framework weakens arguments for the view that the earliest protolanguages were not holophrastic while advancing the claim that protolanguages became increasingly compositional over time en route to the emergence of true languages.

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Preface vii
  4. Is a holistic protolanguage a plausible precursor to language? A test case for a modern evolutionary linguistics 1
  5. Proto-discourse and the emergence of compositionality 19
  6. Protolanguage in ontogeny and phylogeny: Combining deixis and representation 35
  7. From metonymy to syntax in the communication of events 51
  8. The "complex first" paradox: Why do semantically thick concepts so early lexicalize as nouns? 67
  9. Holophrastic protolanguage: Planning, processing, storage, and retrieval 83
  10. Protolanguage reconstructed 99
  11. Growth points from the very beginning 117
  12. The roots of linguistic organization in a new language 133
  13. Holophrasis and the protolanguage spectrum 153
  14. But how did protolanguage actually start ? 167
  15. Name index 175
  16. Subject index 179
The Emergence of Protolanguage
This chapter is in the book The Emergence of Protolanguage
https://doi.org/10.1075/bct.24.10arb

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Preface vii
  4. Is a holistic protolanguage a plausible precursor to language? A test case for a modern evolutionary linguistics 1
  5. Proto-discourse and the emergence of compositionality 19
  6. Protolanguage in ontogeny and phylogeny: Combining deixis and representation 35
  7. From metonymy to syntax in the communication of events 51
  8. The "complex first" paradox: Why do semantically thick concepts so early lexicalize as nouns? 67
  9. Holophrastic protolanguage: Planning, processing, storage, and retrieval 83
  10. Protolanguage reconstructed 99
  11. Growth points from the very beginning 117
  12. The roots of linguistic organization in a new language 133
  13. Holophrasis and the protolanguage spectrum 153
  14. But how did protolanguage actually start ? 167
  15. Name index 175
  16. Subject index 179
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