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The Biology of Language.
This volume brings together 15 papers on the evolution and origin of language. The authors approach the subject from various angles, exploring biological, cultural, psychological and linguistic factors. A wide variety of topics is discussed, such as animal communication, language acquisition, the es...
| Clasificación: | Libro Electrónico |
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| Autor principal: | |
| Formato: | Electrónico eBook |
| Idioma: | Inglés |
| Publicado: |
Amsterdam :
John Benjamins Pub. Co.,
1995.
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| Temas: | |
| Acceso en línea: | Texto completo |
Tabla de Contenidos:
- THE BIOLOGY OF LANGUAGE; Title page; Copyright page; Preface; Acknowledgements; Table of Contents; Chimps, children and creoles: the need for caution; Summary; 1. Introduction; 2. Linguistic evidence: some sources and their problems; 2.1 Primate vocalizations; 2.2 Ape signing; 2.3 Child language; 2.4 Pidgin; 2.5 Creoles; 3. Similarities and pseudo-similarities; 4. Treatment of repetitions; 4.1 Repetitions in ape signing; 4.2 Repetitions in child language; 4.3 Repetitions in pidgins; 5. Omissions; 5.1 Omissions in ape signing; 5.2 Omissions in child language; 5.3 Omissions in pidgins.
- 6. Discussion7. Conclusion; REFERENCES; Some problems with an evolutionary view of written language; Summary; 1. Introduction; 2. Writing as evolution; 2.1 The metaphor of evolution; 2.2 Evolution towards the alphabet; 3. What gets left out; 3.1 Two principles of writing systems; 3.2 The fit between language and writing system; 3.3 Contact as a mechanism f or change; 4. Comparing writing systems; 5. Conclusions; NOTES; REFERENCES; Essentialism in language:a convenient, but fallacious premise; Summary; 1. Introduction; 2. The rise of essentialism; 2.1 Stressing developmental history.
- 2.2 Making way for synchronic studies2.3 Turning away from evolution in language; 3. The synchronic approach; 3.1 The cyclical theories; 3.2 Genetically coded grammars; 3.3 The essentialist conception: a convenient premise; 4. The evidence from linguistics; 4.1 The evidence from phonology; 4.1.1 The evolution of obstruents; 4.1.2 The evolution of vowels; 4.2 The evidence from morphology; 4.2.1 The evolution of grammatical markers; 4.2.2 The evolution of the verbal system; 4.3 The evidence from syntax; 4.3.1 The development of subordination; 4.3.2 Word-order change; 5. Making way for evolution.
- NOTEREFERENCES; The invention of the syllable: reflections of a humanist on the biology of language; Summary; REFERENCES; Genetic classification and the historical method; Summary; 1. Introduction; 1.1 The essentialistic paradox; 2. Principles of classification: a brief historical account; 2.1 Biological essentialism; 2.1.1 Biological evolutionism; 2.2 Biological classifications and the historical method; 3. Genetic linguistics; 3.1 The method; 3.2 Linguistic typology and the historical method; 4. The biology of language; 4.1 Language's origins; 4.2 Linguistic essentialism.
- 4.3 Linguistic evolutionism5. Mechanisms of perception and categorization; 5.1 Perception; 5.2 Perception and thought; 5.3 Analogy and abduction; 6. Concepts and categories; 7. Language and culture; 8. Historical semantics; 8.1 Iconicity and indexicality; 8.2 An example of the historical method; 9. Conclusion; NOTES; REFERENCES; Animal communication and human language: searching for their evolutionary relationship; Summary; 1. Introduction; 2. Some theoretical considerations on biological evolution; 3. The evolutionary relationship between animal communication and human language.