Essentialism in language

Chapters in this book

1. Prelim pages i
2. Preface v
3. Acknowledgements vii
4. Table of contents ix
5. Chimps, children and creoles 1
6. Some problems with an evolutionary view of written language 19
7. Essentialism in language 33
8. The invention of the syllable 61
9. Genetic classification and the historical method 73
10. Animal communication and human language 99
11. From proto-language to grammar 127
12. The biological imperatives in communicative interaction 147
13. Ritual/representation as the semiogenetic precursor of hominid symbol use 157
14. Language acquisition and the essentialist-evolutionist debate 173
15. Group selection in the biocultural evolution of language 195
16. The biology of language 221
17. A possibility of quantum evolution of language 257
18. Biological and cultural factors in the evolution of language 265
19. Index of names 277
20. Index of terms 289