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The evolution of language

Abstract

How language evolved is one of the most debated subjects in science. Starting with Darwinian ideas of natural selection, scholars interested in the evolution of language have been polarized into two main camps, those who propose the faculty of language is a uniquely human trait, and those who claim that language arose from pre-existing systems of animal communication. This chapter discusses some important contributions to the question of language evolution, including studies of the physical and cognitive evolution of modern humans, the relationship between social complexity and brain size, the gestural theory of language, theory of mind, and the use of molecular genetics to identify putative language genes, concluding with the analysis of the FOXP2 gene in the Neanderthals.

Abstract

How language evolved is one of the most debated subjects in science. Starting with Darwinian ideas of natural selection, scholars interested in the evolution of language have been polarized into two main camps, those who propose the faculty of language is a uniquely human trait, and those who claim that language arose from pre-existing systems of animal communication. This chapter discusses some important contributions to the question of language evolution, including studies of the physical and cognitive evolution of modern humans, the relationship between social complexity and brain size, the gestural theory of language, theory of mind, and the use of molecular genetics to identify putative language genes, concluding with the analysis of the FOXP2 gene in the Neanderthals.

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Introduction 1
  4. Scandinavian
  5. On the syntax of the accusative/dative alternation in spatial PPs in Norwegian dative dialects 9
  6. Spurious topic drop in Swedish 27
  7. Germanic sociolinguistics
  8. “The voice from below” 53
  9. Gender maintenance and loss in Totenmålet, English, and other major Germanic varieties 77
  10. French
  11. Non-finite adjuncts in French 111
  12. Topics and the left periphery 131
  13. Language change
  14. The developmental logic of the analytic past in German and Polish 175
  15. The diachrony of pronouns and demonstratives 195
  16. Lesser-studied languages
  17. Origins of metathesis in Batsbi 221
  18. Indefinitely definite expressions 239
  19. Language acquisition
  20. Doing diachrony 259
  21. The acquisition of linguistic variation 275
  22. Language evolution
  23. The evolution of language 301
  24. Language as technology 327
  25. Index 359
In Search of Universal Grammar
This chapter is in the book In Search of Universal Grammar
https://doi.org/10.1075/la.202.21hag

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Introduction 1
  4. Scandinavian
  5. On the syntax of the accusative/dative alternation in spatial PPs in Norwegian dative dialects 9
  6. Spurious topic drop in Swedish 27
  7. Germanic sociolinguistics
  8. “The voice from below” 53
  9. Gender maintenance and loss in Totenmålet, English, and other major Germanic varieties 77
  10. French
  11. Non-finite adjuncts in French 111
  12. Topics and the left periphery 131
  13. Language change
  14. The developmental logic of the analytic past in German and Polish 175
  15. The diachrony of pronouns and demonstratives 195
  16. Lesser-studied languages
  17. Origins of metathesis in Batsbi 221
  18. Indefinitely definite expressions 239
  19. Language acquisition
  20. Doing diachrony 259
  21. The acquisition of linguistic variation 275
  22. Language evolution
  23. The evolution of language 301
  24. Language as technology 327
  25. Index 359
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