The biolinguistics program
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Anna Maria Di Sciullo
Abstract
The Biolinguistics Program is an emergent interdisciplinary field encompassing natural sciences, neurosciences and the humanities. Its core object of inquiry is human language. The overarching questions it raises are the following: what is language and what is the relation between language and biology. The central hypothesis it brings to the fore is that human language has a biological basis as well as unique traits that make language unique in the biological world. This paper details some of the specific questions and the hypotheses that have been formulated in this field, and it considers recent works on the intersection of language and biology. We start by stating the rationale for Biolinguistics. We then identify the questions and hypotheses raised by this field. Finally, we consider works that aim to bridge the explanatory gap between language and biology while preserving the unique properties of language.
Abstract
The Biolinguistics Program is an emergent interdisciplinary field encompassing natural sciences, neurosciences and the humanities. Its core object of inquiry is human language. The overarching questions it raises are the following: what is language and what is the relation between language and biology. The central hypothesis it brings to the fore is that human language has a biological basis as well as unique traits that make language unique in the biological world. This paper details some of the specific questions and the hypotheses that have been formulated in this field, and it considers recent works on the intersection of language and biology. We start by stating the rationale for Biolinguistics. We then identify the questions and hypotheses raised by this field. Finally, we consider works that aim to bridge the explanatory gap between language and biology while preserving the unique properties of language.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Biolinguistic investigations on the Language Faculty vii
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Section 1. Language faculty
- The biolinguistics program 3
- Symbol taxonomy in biophonology 41
- The centrality of speech for human thought 55
- Electroencephalographic evidence of vowels computation and representation in human auditory cortex 79
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Section 2. Language variation
- Feature values and the expression of variation 103
- Object pronouns in the evolution of Romanian 125
- The interplay of silent nouns and (reduced) relatives in Malay adjectival modification 145
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Section 3. Language (acquisition and) impairments
- A study on an alleged case of Spanish SLI and the founder effect 169
- Syntax and its interfaces at the low and high ends of the autism spectrum 195
- Communication in schizophrenia, between pragmatics, cognition, and social cognition 213
- Author index 235
- Subject index 237
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Biolinguistic investigations on the Language Faculty vii
-
Section 1. Language faculty
- The biolinguistics program 3
- Symbol taxonomy in biophonology 41
- The centrality of speech for human thought 55
- Electroencephalographic evidence of vowels computation and representation in human auditory cortex 79
-
Section 2. Language variation
- Feature values and the expression of variation 103
- Object pronouns in the evolution of Romanian 125
- The interplay of silent nouns and (reduced) relatives in Malay adjectival modification 145
-
Section 3. Language (acquisition and) impairments
- A study on an alleged case of Spanish SLI and the founder effect 169
- Syntax and its interfaces at the low and high ends of the autism spectrum 195
- Communication in schizophrenia, between pragmatics, cognition, and social cognition 213
- Author index 235
- Subject index 237
