John Benjamins Publishing Company
Gestural theory of the origins of language
Abstract
Several lines of evidence suggest that human language originated in manual gestures, not vocal calls. These include: (1) the use of the hands as the more natural way to depict events in space and time; (2) the ability of nonhuman primates to use manual action flexibly and intentionally; (3) the nature of the primate mirror system and its homology with the language circuits in the human brain; (4) the relative success in teaching apes to communicate gesturally rather than vocally; (5) the ready invention of sophisticated signed languages by the deaf; (6) the critical role of pointing in the way young children learn language; and (7) the correlation between handedness and cerebral asymmetry for language. The eventual switch to speech miniaturized the system, selected because it freed the hands for other functions, such as carrying things, and the manufacture and use of tools.
Abstract
Several lines of evidence suggest that human language originated in manual gestures, not vocal calls. These include: (1) the use of the hands as the more natural way to depict events in space and time; (2) the ability of nonhuman primates to use manual action flexibly and intentionally; (3) the nature of the primate mirror system and its homology with the language circuits in the human brain; (4) the relative success in teaching apes to communicate gesturally rather than vocally; (5) the ready invention of sophisticated signed languages by the deaf; (6) the critical role of pointing in the way young children learn language; and (7) the correlation between handedness and cerebral asymmetry for language. The eventual switch to speech miniaturized the system, selected because it freed the hands for other functions, such as carrying things, and the manufacture and use of tools.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Preface vii
- Introduction ix
-
Part 1. General perspectives and issues on language origins
- Historical, Darwinian, and current perspectives on the origin(s) of language 3
- The origin of language as seen by eighteenth-century philosophy 31
- Cognitive and social aspects of language origins 53
-
Part 2. At the roots of language
- Reconstructed fossil vocal tracts and the production of speech 75
- Paleoanthropology and language 129
- Material culture and language 147
- Gestural theory of the origins of language 171
-
Part 3. Communication and language origins
- Primate communication 187
- FoxP2 and vocalization 211
- Brain lateralization and the emergence of language 237
- Sensorimotor constraints and the organization of sound patterns 257
- Symbol grounding and the origin of language 279
-
Part 4. Linguistic views on language origins
- Sound patterns and conceptual content of the first words 301
- Brave new words 333
- On the origin of Grammar 379
- Arbitrary signs and the emergence of language 407
- On the relevance of pidgins and creoles in the debate on the origins of language 441
-
Part 5. Computational modeling of language origins
- Modeling cultural evolution 487
- How language emerges in situated embodied interactions 505
- Emergence of communication and language in evolving robots 533
- Evolving a bridge from praxis to language 555
- Index 579
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Preface vii
- Introduction ix
-
Part 1. General perspectives and issues on language origins
- Historical, Darwinian, and current perspectives on the origin(s) of language 3
- The origin of language as seen by eighteenth-century philosophy 31
- Cognitive and social aspects of language origins 53
-
Part 2. At the roots of language
- Reconstructed fossil vocal tracts and the production of speech 75
- Paleoanthropology and language 129
- Material culture and language 147
- Gestural theory of the origins of language 171
-
Part 3. Communication and language origins
- Primate communication 187
- FoxP2 and vocalization 211
- Brain lateralization and the emergence of language 237
- Sensorimotor constraints and the organization of sound patterns 257
- Symbol grounding and the origin of language 279
-
Part 4. Linguistic views on language origins
- Sound patterns and conceptual content of the first words 301
- Brave new words 333
- On the origin of Grammar 379
- Arbitrary signs and the emergence of language 407
- On the relevance of pidgins and creoles in the debate on the origins of language 441
-
Part 5. Computational modeling of language origins
- Modeling cultural evolution 487
- How language emerges in situated embodied interactions 505
- Emergence of communication and language in evolving robots 533
- Evolving a bridge from praxis to language 555
- Index 579
