The Evolution of Human Language: Biolinguistic Perspectives

280 Pages·2010·2.89 MB·

by  Richard K. Larson, Viviane Déprez, Hiroko Yamakido

The Evolution of Human Language
Thewaylanguageasahumanfacultyhasevolvedisaquestionthatpreoccu-
pies researchers from a wide spread of disciplines. In this book, a team of
writershasbeenbroughttogethertoexaminetheevolutionoflanguagefroma
varietyofsuchstandpoints,includinglanguage’sgeneticbasis,theanthropo-
logicalcontextofitsappearance,itsformalstructure,itsrelationtosystemsof
cognitionandthought,aswellasitspossibleevolutionaryantecedents.The
bookincludesHauser,Chomsky,andFitch’sseminalandprovocativeessayon
thesubject,“TheFacultyofLanguage:Whatisit,whohasit,andhowdidit
evolve?,” and charts the progress of research in this active and highly con-
troversial field since its publication in 2002. This timely volume will be
welcomedbyresearchersandstudentsinanumberofdisciplines,including
linguistics,evolutionarybiology,psychology,andcognitivescience.
richardk.larsonisProfessorofLinguisticsatStonyBrookUniversity,
NewYork.
viviane de´prez is Associate Professor of Linguistics at Rutgers
University,NewJersey.
hiroko yamakido isAssistantProfessorofJapaneseandLinguisticsat
LawrenceUniversity,Wisconsin.
ApproachestotheEvolutionofLanguage
The evolution of human language is a rapidly growing area of study and
research, undertaken from a wide range of perspectives. This new series
provides a forum for the very best contributions to this fascinating subject.
Taking an interdisciplinary approach, the series as a whole encourages a
productivedialoguebetweenthoseworkinginlinguistics,biology,psychol-
ogy,anthropologyandcognitivescience.
Publishedtitles
LanguageEvolutionandSyntacticTheoryAnnaR.Kinsella
The Evolution of Human
Language
Biolinguistic Perspectives
Richard K. Larson
Viviane Déprez
Hiroko Yamakido
cambridge university press
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Contents
Figures page vii
Contributors viii
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction 1
1 Thefacultyoflanguage:whatisit,whohasit,andhowdidit
evolve?
marcd d. hauser, noam chomsky
and w. tecumseh fitch 14
PartI Languagearchitecture 43
2 Somesimpleevodevotheses:howtruemighttheybefor
language?
noam chomsky 45
3 Yourtheoryoflanguageevolutiondependsonyourtheory
oflanguage
ray jackendoff 63
4 Threemeaningsof“recursion”:keydistinctionsforbiolinguistics
w. tecumseh fitch 73
5 Onobfuscation,obscurantism,andopacity:evolving
conceptionsofthefacultyoflanguage
marc d. hauser 91
PartII Languageandinterfacesystems 101
6 Prospectionasacognitiveprecursortosymboliccommunication
peter ga¨rdenfors and mathias osvath 103
v
vi Contents
7 Didlanguageevolvebeforespeech?
michael c. corballis 115
8 Apragmaticperspectiveontheevolutionoflanguage
dan sperber and gloria origgi 124
PartIII Biologicalandneurologicalfoundations 133
9 Plasticityandcanalizationintheevolutionoflinguistic
communication:anevolutionarydevelopmentalapproach
daniel dor and eva jablonka 135
10 Whatislanguage,thatitmayhaveevolved,andwhatis
evolution,thatitmayapplytolanguage
massimo piattelli-palmarini 148
11 Thecreativecapacityoflanguage,inwhatmannerisitunique,
andwhohadit?
philip lieberman 163
12 Geneticsandtheevolutionoflanguage:whatgeneticstudies
revealabouttheevolutionoflanguage
karin stromswold 176
PartIV Anthropologicalcontext 191
13 Aputativeroleforlanguageintheoriginofhumanconsciousness
ian tattersall 193
14 Ontwoincompatibletheoriesoflanguageevolution
derek bickerton 199
15 Ontheevolutionoflanguage:implicationsofanewandgeneral
theoryofhumanorigins,properties,andhistory
paul m. bingham 211
Notes 225
References 232
Index 263
Figures
1.1 Universalgeneticorganizationvs.variablecommunicative
organization page 15
1.2 Organism-external/-internalfactorsandthefaculty
oflanguage 18
1.3 Researchspaceforinvestigatingtheevolutionoflanguage 20
1.4 Distributionofimitationintheanimalkingdom 30
1.5 Computationofnumerositiesinhumansandnonhumans 35
3.1 Inferentialrelationbetweentheoryoflinguisticknowledge
andevolutionarytheory 64
3.2 ArchitectureofGovernment-BindingTheory 68
3.3 Theparallelarchitecture 68
3.4 Recursionincognitionofavisualarray 69
3.5 Architectureofprotolanguage 71
12.1 Aschemafortheoriesoflanguageevolution 188
vii
Contributors
DEREK BICKERTON, DepartmentofLinguistics,Universityof HawaiiatManoa.
PAULM.BINGHAM,DepartmentofBiochemistryandCellBiologyandCollege
ofHumanDevelopment,StonyBrookUniversity,NewYork.
NOAM CHOMSKY, Department of Linguistics and Philosophy, Massachusetts
InstituteofTechnology.
MICHAEL C. CORBALLIS, DepartmentofPsychology,UniversityofAuckland.
DANIEL DOR, DepartmentofCommunication,Tel-AvivUniversity.
W. TECUMSEH FITCH, DepartmentofNeurobiologyandCognition,University
ofVienna.
PETER GÄRDENFORS, LundUniversityCognitiveScience.
MARC D. HAUSER, DepartmentofPsychology,HarvardUniversity.
EVA JABLONKA, Cohn Institute for the History of Philosophy of Science and
Ideas,LesterandSallyEntinFacultyofHumanities,TelAvivUniversity.
RAY JACKENDOFF, DepartmentofPhilosophy,TuftsUniversity,Medford.
PHILIP LIEBERMAN, Cognitive and Linguistic Sciences, Brown University,
Providence.
GLORIA ORIGGI, InstitutJeanNicod,Paris.
MATHIAS OSVATH, LundUniversityCognitiveScience.
MASSIMO PIATTELLI-PALMARINI, Department of Linguistics, Department of
Psychology,andCognitiveScienceProgram,UniversityofArizona.
DAN SPERBER, InstitutJeanNicod,Paris.
KARIN STROMSWOLD, Department of Psychology, Rutgers University, New
Brunswick.
IAN TATTERSALL, Division of Anthropology, American Museum of Natural
History,NewYork.
viii
Acknowledgments
The first Morris International Symposium on Language and Communication,
held at Stony Brook University October 14–16, 2005, and upon which this
volumewasbased,wasmadepossiblebyagrantfromtheAliceV.andDave
H. Morris Memorial Fund, administered by the New York Community Trust.
We are grateful to the Morris Memorial Fund and the New York Community
Trustfortheirgenerousandenthusiasticsupport.Wethankalloriginalsympo-
sium participants (presenter, commentators, and audience) for their contribu-
tions to a memorable event, and also students, staff, and faculty of the Stony
BrookUniversityDepartmentofLinguisticsfororganizationalassistance.Our
specialthankstoDr.MarianneBorroff,oneoftheprincipalsymposiumorgan-
izers.Hauser,ChomskyandFitch(2002)isreprintedherewithpermissionfrom
Science,whichwegratefullyacknowledge.
W. Tecumseh Fitch: I thank Noam Chomsky, Marc Hauser, Arie
Verhagen and Gesche Westphal for comments on the manuscript, and Rens
Bod, Angela Friederici, Richard Larson, Howard Lasnik, Tim O’Donnell,
Geoffrey Pullum, David Raubenheimer, Mark Steedman and particularly
MarkJohnsonforusefulconversationsonthetopicsdiscussedhere.Allerrors
andopinionsofcourseremainmyown.
DanielDorandEvaJablonka:WeareverygratefultoMarionLambforher
detailedcriticismandinvaluablesuggestions.WealsothankSimonaGinsburg,
EhudLammandIddoTavoryforenjoyablediscussionsandconstructivecom-
mentsonearlierversionsofthispaper.
Ian Tattersall: I thank Marianne Borroff, Hiroko Yamakido, and Richard
Larsonfortheirkindinvitationtoparticipateinthisvolumeandthefascinating
symposiumonwhichitisbased.
Paul Bingham: I am especially grateful to my gifted collaborators in the
humanuniquenesswork(DaijiroOkada;Economics,Rutgers) andinthecon-
tinued exploration of human evolution and the mind (Joanne Souza; Biology,
StonyBrook).DiscussionswithGeorgeWilliams,BobTriversandDavidSloan
Wilsonwereilluminating.Iamalsoespeciallygratefultomywifeandlong-time
collaborator and colleague, Zuzana Zachar (Biochemistry and Cell Biology,
StonyBrook),whohasbeenthesourceofsomanyproductivediscussionsand
ix