The evolution of language

Half-title......Page 3
Title......Page 5
Copyright......Page 6
Dedication......Page 7
Contents......Page 9
Figures......Page 11
Acknowledgments......Page 13
Introduction......Page 15
A pluralistic, multi-component perspective......Page 18
Plan of the book......Page 21
Section 1 The lay of the land: an overview of disciplines and data relevant to language evolution......Page 25
1 Language from a biological perspective......Page 27
1.1 A biological approach to the “hardest problem in science”......Page 29
1.2 A comparative, pluralistic approach......Page 31
1.3 The faculty of language: broad and narrow senses......Page 34
1.4.1 Communication and language......Page 38
1.4.2 Genes and environment: nature via nurture......Page 41
1.4.3 Innateness and learning: language as an instinct to learn......Page 44
1.4.4 I-language and E-language: cultural and biological evolution of language......Page 46
2.2 Evolution: the beginnings......Page 49
2.2.1 Natural selection......Page 51
2.3.1 Sexual selection......Page 53
2.3.2 Inclusive fitness and kin selection......Page 55
2.3.3 “Group selection” – a highly ambiguous term......Page 56
2.4 The comparative method: the biologist’s time machine......Page 58
2.5 Controversies and resolutions in contemporary evolutionary theory......Page 60
2.5.1 Mutation, saltation, and the modern synthesis......Page 61
2.5.2 Resolution: evolutionarily stable strategies......Page 64
2.5.3 Punctuated equilibrium and sudden evolutionary change......Page 65
2.5.4 Macromutations and gradualism......Page 67
2.5.5 Resolution: evo-devo and deep homology: genetic conservation down the ages......Page 69
2.5.6 Selection and constraints: limits on adaptation and natural selection......Page 71
2.5.7 Shifts in function: adaptation, preadaptation, and exaptation......Page 77
2.6 The evolution of behavior: constraints of the “four whys”......Page 80
2.6.1 Explaining behavior: Tinbergen’s “four whys”......Page 82
2.6.2 The role of behavior in evolution......Page 84
2.7 Summary......Page 85
3.1 Sensitive periods for language acquisition......Page 87
3.2 Understanding linguists: an interdisciplinary dilemma......Page 90
3.3 Modern linguistics and the interface with biology......Page 91
3.3.1 Western linguistics: description not prescription......Page 92
3.3.2 Generative linguistics: mental, formal, and biological......Page 93
3.3.3 Biolinguistics: exploring the biological basis for language......Page 94
Encapsulation......Page 95
Innateness......Page 97
The poverty of the stimulus......Page 98
3.3.4 The biological basis for language: terminology and “Universal Grammar”......Page 101
3.3.5 Historical linguistics revisited: glossogeny and natural selection......Page 102
3.4 Phonology......Page 107
3.4.1 Phonology: a generative system......Page 108
3.4.2 Blurry borders: phonetics, phonology, and syntax......Page 109
3.4.3 Signals and the structure of phoneme inventories......Page 111
3.4.4 Sequence memory, hierarchy, and the particulate principle......Page 113
3.5.1 Introduction: the challenge and complexity of syntax......Page 116
3.5.2 What is syntax?......Page 117
3.5.3 Many flavors of modern syntax......Page 119
3.5.4 The autonomy of syntax: formalism and functionalism......Page 120
3.5.5 Computability and the theory of computation......Page 121
Formal language theory......Page 122
3.5.6 Formal language theory and music......Page 124
The formal characterizations of musical “syntax”......Page 128
3.5.7 Syntax summary: what needed to evolve......Page 129
3.6 An appetizer: four hypotheses about the evolution of syntax......Page 130
3.7.1 The study of meaning in language......Page 133
3.7.2 Formal semantics and propositional meaning......Page 134
3.7.3 Mentalist semantics and the semiotic triangle......Page 136
3.7.4 Child language acquisition: the acquisition of word meanings......Page 139
3.7.5 Constraints on guesses about word meaning......Page 141
3.8.1 Pragmatics: context is everything......Page 143
3.8.2 Pragmatic inference: context and interpretation......Page 145
3.8.3 Inferential models of communication......Page 146
3.8.4 Symmetry of signaler and receiver: shedding a misleading intuition......Page 148
3.8.5 The evolution of inference: conceptual components......Page 149
3.8.6 Biological components of the theory of mind......Page 150
3.8.7 Autism and “mindblindness”......Page 153
3.9 Chapter summary: multiple components of language......Page 154
4 Animal cognition and communication......Page 157
4.1 Animal cognition: exorcising Skinner’s ghost......Page 158
4.2 Overview of animal cognition and communication......Page 161
4.3 The study of animal cognition......Page 162
4.4 Animal cognitive capabilities: the basic toolkit......Page 163
4.4.3 Time and planning......Page 164
4.4.4 Inference and reasoning......Page 165
4.4.7 Serial order......Page 166
4.5.1 Animal tool use and “physical intelligence”......Page 167
4.5.2 Animal interactions and “social intelligence”......Page 170
4.5.3 Dogs and gaze following: a simple trick?......Page 173
4.5.4 Avian social intelligence......Page 174
4.6.1 Vocal traditions......Page 175
4.6.2 Non-vocal traditions......Page 176
4.7 Inter-species communication: animals’ latent abilities to use language-like systems......Page 178
4.7.1 Ape “language” studies......Page 180
4.7.2 Communication between humans and other vertebrates......Page 182
4.7.3 Are constraints on word learning adaptations “for” language?......Page 184
4.8 Animal cognition: conclusions......Page 185
4.9 Animal communication......Page 187
4.9.1 Continuity and discontinuity: a false dichotomy......Page 189
4.9.2 Signals: a key distinction between innate and learned signals......Page 190
4.9.3 Emotional expression and “reflexive” communication in animals......Page 193
4.10 Structure: phonological and syntactic phenomena in animal communication......Page 195
4.10.1 Non-random ordering......Page 196
4.10.2 Phonological syntax and animal “song”......Page 197
4.10.3 Meaningful syntax......Page 198
4.11.1 Pragmatic inference in animal communication......Page 200
4.11.2 Functionally referential signals......Page 201
4.11.3 Interpreting functional referentiality......Page 203
4.11.4 Pragmatic signalers: are animals intentionally informative?......Page 205
4.12 The evolution of “honest” communication: a fundamental problem......Page 208
4.12.1 How can “honest” signals evolve?......Page 209
4.12.2 Other routes to honesty: shared interests and communication among kin......Page 212
4.12.3 Kin-selected communication systems......Page 213
4.13 Chapter summary......Page 215
Section 2 Meet the ancestors......Page 217
5.1 From a single cell to Miocene primates......Page 219
5.2 In the beginning: the first cells and the genetic code......Page 222
5.3 Eukaryotes: the origins of cellular biology......Page 225
5.4 Early metazoans: epigenesis, the Urbilaterian, and the developmental toolkit......Page 227
5.5 Getting a head (and jaws): the first fish and the vertebrate nervous system......Page 229
5.6 Onto the land: proto-tetrapods......Page 234
5.7 Finding a voice: early tetrapods and vocal communication......Page 236
5.8 In the shadow of dinosaurs: amniotes and early mammals......Page 238
5.9 The End-Cretaceous extinction begins the age of mammals......Page 241
5.10 Early primates: sociality, color vision, and larger brains......Page 242
5.11 Early apes and the last common ancestor......Page 244
5.12 Chapter summary: from the first cell to the last common ancestor......Page 246
6.1 Reconstructing the LCA......Page 248
6.1.1 Communication......Page 250
6.1.2 Sociality......Page 251
6.1.3 Tool use, hunting, and medicine......Page 252
6.1.4 Violence......Page 253
6.2 The ape’s impasse: the hominoid mother’s dilemma......Page 255
6.3 Male parental care......Page 257
6.4 Evolving paternal care and monogamy......Page 259
6.5 Implications for language evolution: Why us and not others?......Page 261
6.6 Summary......Page 263
7.1 What the fossils tell us......Page 264
7.2 Paleospecies: naming fossil hominids......Page 265
7.3 A broad overview: major stages in human evolution since the LCA......Page 269
7.4 The earliest hominids......Page 271
7.5 Australopithecines: bipedal apes......Page 273
7.6 The Oldowan Industry and the genus Homo......Page 277
7.7 A major transition in human evolution: Homo erectus......Page 279
7.8 Neanderthals: our large-brained sister species......Page 282
7.9 The common ancestor of Neanderthals and AMHS......Page 284
7.10 Anatomically modern Homo sapiens: Out of Africa......Page 287
7.11 AMHS and the Upper Paleolithic “Revolution”......Page 289
7.12 The evolution of human brain size......Page 292
7.12.1 Absolute brain size......Page 293
7.12.2 Relative brain size......Page 294
7.12.3 Encephalization quotient (EQ)......Page 295
What does brain size tell us?......Page 297
7.13 Reorganization of neural connectivity......Page 299
7.13.1 Fossil endocasts......Page 300
7.14 The brain as an expensive tissue......Page 302
7.15 Integrating the strands: brain size and brain structure in human evolution......Page 304
7.16 Summary: from the LCA to modern Homo sapiens......Page 306
Section 3 The evolution of speech......Page 309
8.1 Speech is not language, but is important nonetheless......Page 311
8.2 Vertebrate vocal production: basic bioacoustics......Page 313
8.2.1 The pulmonary airstream......Page 314
8.2.2 The voice source......Page 315
8.2.3 The vocal tract filter......Page 317
8.2.4 Independence of source and filter in vocal production......Page 320
8.3.1 People are strange......Page 321
8.3.2 The role of the descended larynx in speech......Page 324
8.3.3 Application to fossil hominids......Page 326
8.4.1 Dynamic reconfiguration of the mammalian vocal tract......Page 329
8.4.2 Permanently descended larynges in nonhuman mammals......Page 332
8.4.3 The function of the descended larynx: size exaggeration......Page 335
8.5.1 Frequency sensitivity......Page 338
8.5.2 Categorical perception......Page 339
8.5.3 Other potentially special aspects of speech perception......Page 340
8.6 Implications of the comparative data......Page 341
8.7.1 The vocal tract skeleton......Page 343
8.7.2 Other proposed fossil cues to vocal anatomy......Page 346
8.7.3 Proposed neurally based cues to vocal control......Page 347
8.7.4 Summary......Page 350
9.2 Evolving learned vocalizations: phylogeny and function......Page 352
9.2.1 Vocal imitation and song......Page 354
9.2.2 Function and phylogeny of complex vocal imitation......Page 355
9.3.1 Sensitive periods......Page 357
9.3.2 Babbling and vocal imitation......Page 359
9.4 Neural mechanisms underlying complex vocal imitation......Page 360
The brainstem chassis......Page 361
9.4.2 The midbrain control region......Page 362
9.4.3 Cortical control regions......Page 363
9.4.4 Vocal control in comparative perspective......Page 366
9.4.5 Implications of the novel circuitry in humans......Page 369
9.5 The molecular genetic basis of complex vocal motor control......Page 370
9.6 FOXP2 and complex vocal motor control......Page 372
9.7 Summary: the vocal tract and its neural control......Page 376
10.1 Evolving speech......Page 378
10.2 Lieberman’s model: beyond Broca’s area......Page 379
10.3 MacNeilage’s frame/content model of vocal evolution......Page 380
10.3.1 Synthesis......Page 384
10.4 Deacon’s “leveraged takeover” model: Speech as spandrel?......Page 385
10.5 Carstairs-McCarthy: from speech to syllables to syntax......Page 386
10.6.1 Motor constraints on phonological structure......Page 388
10.6.2 Perceptual constraints and phonological structure......Page 390
10.6.3 Vocal imitation, glossogeny, and dialect formation......Page 391
10.7 Computer models of phonological change: simulating glossogeny......Page 394
10.7.1 Modeling the development of phoneme inventories......Page 395
10.7.2 Commentary: explanation in computer simulations......Page 397
Section 4 Evaluating phylogenetic models of language evolution......Page 401
11 Historical overview: Western theories of language origin before Darwin......Page 403
11.1 In the beginning: the first words......Page 404
11.2 The onomatopoetic theory of word origins......Page 405
11.3 The expressive or interjectionist theory......Page 406
11.4 Alternative origins in sociality or song......Page 407
11.5 Max Müller’s attack on evolution and language origin theories......Page 408
11.6 Charles Darwin’s theory of language evolution......Page 411
11.7 Protolanguage in theories of language evolution......Page 413
12.1 Introduction......Page 415
12.2 The discontinuity between animal communication and language......Page 416
12.3 “Living fossils” of protolanguage: contemporary windows onto protolanguage......Page 417
12.4 Catastrophic syntax?......Page 421
12.5 Jackendoff’s model: protolanguage plus incremental evolution of syntax......Page 424
12.6 The selective pressures underlying lexical protolanguage......Page 427
12.7 The evolution of cooperative communication: solving a central problem......Page 428
12.8 Dunbar: grooming, “free-riders,” and gossip......Page 431
12.9 Deacon: meat and monogamy; symbolism and group cohesion......Page 434
12.10 Fitch: the origin of information sharing via kin communication......Page 438
12.10.1 Stage 1: kin selection for information exchange......Page 439
12.10.2 Stage 2: reciprocal altruism – no evolution needed......Page 441
12.11 Whence syntax?......Page 443
13.1 Introduction: From hand to mouth?......Page 447
13.2 Gesture and speech......Page 448
13.3 Signed language......Page 451
13.4 Gestural theories of language origin: a brief history......Page 452
13.5 Gordon Hewes: father of modern gestural protolanguage theories......Page 454
13.6 Arguments against gestural protolanguage......Page 456
13.7 Arbitrariness, indexing, and duality of patterning as key advantages of speech......Page 460
13.8 The neuroscience of gesture: laterality and mirror neurons......Page 462
13.8.1 Cerebral lateralization as evidence for gestural protolanguage......Page 463
13.8.2 Cross-modal cognition......Page 465
13.9 Cross-modal cognition and mirror neurons: Arbib and Rizzolatti’s model......Page 466
13.10 Critiques of the mirror system hypothesis......Page 469
13.11 Arbib’s move “beyond the mirror”: the extended mirror system hypothesis (EMSH)......Page 471
13.12 Critiques of Arbib’s extended hypothesis......Page 475
13.13 Summary: taking stock of gestural protolanguage......Page 478
14.1 Introduction: phonology remains puzzling......Page 480
14.2 Charles Darwin’s theory revisited: “musical protolanguage”......Page 484
14.3 Prosodic protolanguage: a contemporary update......Page 488
14.4 Prosodic protolanguage and modern music......Page 492
14.5 Adding meaning to prosodic protolanguage: Jespersen’s model and the origins of meaning......Page 495
14.6 Analyzing holistic protolanguage......Page 498
14.7 Modern versions of musical protolanguage theory......Page 499
14.7.1 Mithen’s “Hmmmm” model......Page 500
14.7.2 Steven Brown’s “musilanguage” model......Page 501
14.7.3 Group selection......Page 503
14.7.4 Sexual selection......Page 504
14.7.5 Kin selection......Page 506
14.8 Critiques of musical hypotheses......Page 508
14.9 Holistic protolanguage today: Alison Wray’s model of holistic protolanguage......Page 510
14.10 Critiques of Wray’s holistic protolanguage......Page 512
14.11 Simon Kirby’s simulations of holistic/analytic transitions......Page 515
14.12 Synthesis and prospects......Page 517
15 Conclusions and prospects......Page 522
Glossary......Page 527
Appendix: list of species names......Page 533
References......Page 535
Author index......Page 619
Subject index......Page 621
Species index......Page 625