Overview

The evolutionary emergence of each facet of human language can be viewed as a 'transition'. This book explores how different transitions took place, their preconditions, and their consequences. Among the questions it addresses are: what physiological and psychological differences between us and other animals lie at the heart of our superior capacity for language? Was the pre-linguistic period of humankind characterized by words without syntax, syntax without meaning, gesture without speech, or all, or none, of these? Once a community is ready and able to develop language, what internal and external factors trigger its emergence? How are we to interpret the archaeological evidence of early tool-making abilities, relative to the presence, or absence, of language? In what social circumstances could language have avoided being immediately harnessed for deception, so that it became too dangerous and unreliable to be of value? Was the universal form of language determined by pre-existing psychological capabilities, or by natural constraints in communication? Has language finished evolving? If not, how different were linguistic structures used by our early ancestors from those that we use today? This investigation into one of the enduring mysteries of humankind brings together original contributions from linguists, archaeologists, anthropologists, psychologists, biologists, primatologists, and researchers in artificial intelligence. They offer the reader up-to-the-minute debates in the field of language evolution.

Full Product Details

Author:   Alison Wray (, Senior Research Fellow, Centre for Language and Communication Research, Cardiff University)
Publisher:   Oxford University Press
Imprint:   Oxford University Press
Volume:   2
Dimensions:   Width: 15.30cm , Height: 2.10cm , Length: 23.10cm
Weight:   0.582kg
ISBN:  

9780199250660

ISBN 10:   0199250669
Pages:   424
Publication Date:   21 March 2002
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   To order  
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Table of Contents

1: Alison Wray: Introduction: Conceptualizing Transition in an Evolving Field Part I: Making Ready for Language: Necessary, But Not Sufficient 2: W. Tecumseh Fitch: Comparative Vocal Production and the Evolution of Speech: Reinterpreting the Descent of the Larynx 3: Kazuo Okanoya: Sexual Display as a Syntactic Vehicle: The Evolution of Syntax in Birdsong and Human Language through Sexual Selection 4: H. S. Terrace: Serial Expertise and the Evolution of Language Part II: Internal Triggers to Transition: Genes, Processing, Culture, Gesture, and Technology 5: T. J. Crow: Protocadherin XY: A Candidate Gene for Cerebral Asymmetry and Language 6: Alison Wray: Dual Processing in Protolanguage: Performance Without Competence 7: Chris Knight: Language and Revolutionary Consciousness 8: Michael C. Corballis: Did Language Evolve from Manual Gestures? 9: Iain Davidson: The 'Finished Artefact Fallacy': Acheulean Handaxes and Language Origins Part III: External Triggers to Transition: Environment, Population, and Social Context 10: Derek Bickerton: Foraging Versus Social Intelligence in the Evolution of Protolanguage 11: Bradley Tonkes and Janet Wiles: Methodological Issues in Simulating the Emergence of Language 12: L. Steels, F. Kaplan, A. McIntyre, and J. Van Looveren: Crucial Factors in the Origins of Word-Meaning 13: Sonia Ragir: Constraints on Communities with Indigenous Sign Languages: Clues to the Dynamics of Language Genesis Part IV: The Onward Journey: Determining the Shape of Language 14: Robbins Burling: The Slow Growth of Language in Children 15: James R. Hurford: The Roles of Expression and Representation in Language Evolution 16: Morten H. Christiansen and Michelle R. Ellefson: Linguistic Adaptation Without Linguistic Constraints: The Role of Sequential Learning in Language Evolution 17: Frederick J. Newmeyer: Uniformitarian Assumptions and Language Evolution Research 18: Bernd Heine and Tania Kuteva: On the Evolution of Grammatical Forms

Reviews

... a thought-provoking volume, with implications not just for language evolution but for how we conceptualise language acquisition, language structure and language change. Journal of Linguistics

... a thought-provoking volume, with implications not just for language evolution but for how we conceptualise language acquisition, language structure and language change. * Journal of Linguistics *

Author Information

Alison Wray gained her BA and D.Phil. degrees from the University of York. She has worked in departments of music, linguistics, and communication, and her research focuses on three major areas: historical pronunciation for early music, formulaic language, and language evolution. She has published papers and chapters on all three areas, and her books include: The Focusing Hypothesis (1992), Projects in Linguistics (1998, with Trott and Bloomer) and Formulaic Language and the Lexicon (2002).

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