Essays on the Evolutionary-Synthetic Theory of Language

This book implements a multidisciplinary approach in describing language both in its ontogenetic development and in its close interrelationship with other human subsystems such as thought, memory, and activity, with a focus on the semantic component of the evolutionary-synthetic theory.

The volume analyzes, among others, the mechanisms for grammatical polysemy, and brings to light the structural unity of artefact and natural concepts (such as CHAIR, ROAD, LAKE, RIVER, TREE). Additionally, object and motor concepts are defined in terms of the language of thought, and their representation in neurobiological memory codes is discussed; finally, the hierarchic structure of basic meanings of concrete nouns is shown to arise as a result of their step-by-step development in ontogeny.

Alexey Koshelev is the author of four books, Cognitive Analysis of Universal Human Concepts (in Russian, Moscow, 2015), Essays on the Evolutionary-Synthetic Theory of Language (in Russian, Moscow, 2017), Essays on the Evolutionary-Synthetic Theory of Language (in English, Moscow & Boston, 2019), On the genesis of thought and language: The genesis of concepts and propositions; Aristotle and Chomsky on language; The impact of culture on language (in Russian, Moscow, 2019) and over fifty papers on cognitive semantics, theoretical linguistics, lexical and grammatical polysemy, the history of linguistic theories, the theory of humor and laughter, human locomotion, general theory of development and related subjects.

“Alexey Koshelev presents an integral conception of language as a sum total of lexicon and grammar, developed from the perspective of child cognitive development and language acquisition. The unquestionable merit of such a conception is the uniform and consistent approach to analysis and description of a range of linguistic phenomena; this approach is characterized by the deliberate use of a well-grounded methodology and an original set of concepts.” —Tat’iana Screbtsova, Saint Petersburg State University (Russia)

“Alexey Koshelev takes the next crucial step, toward a synthesis of cognitive and linguistic abilities in their interrelated development, toward a systematic unity of universal and specific, abstract and concrete in language. He begins with patterns in the cognition of objects, from the most basic and holistic representations of an object to the delineation of its distinct features and, further, to the synthesis of the accumulated knowledge of the various facets of an object into a cohesive system for its representation.” —Liudmila Zubkova, People’s Friendship University of Russia [translation J. Smith]

“The book reads with great interest sustained by both the core ideas of the Evolutionary-Synthetic Theory of Language (ESToL) itself—which may be assessed differently by different readers—and the detailed analysis of numerous examples that illustrate the propositions advanced by the author. The main merit of the book is that the author, while declaring a deep crisis in contemporary theoretical linguistics, at the same time suggests a way out of this crisis with the course outlined in the ESToL.” —Alexander Kravchenko, English Philology, Irkutsk State University (Russia)