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The social origins of language| old_uid | 13585 |
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| title | The social origins of language |
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| start_date | 2014/03/12 |
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| schedule | 11h30-13h |
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| online | no |
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| details | week's LANGUAGE Seminar (with English-LSF interpreting) |
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| summary | Human language is strikingly different from the communication of our closest animal relatives, the monkeys and apes, making it difficult to imagine how language could have evolved from the communication of a shared, common ancestor. The differences are clearest in call production. Continuities are more apparent, however, when one considers underlying neural mechanisms and how calls function in the daily lives of individuals. In these contexts, human and nonhuman primates share homologous brain mechanisms that have presumably evolved to serve similar social functions. In baboons – and very likely many other primates – vocalizations and social knowledge combine to form a system of communication that is discrete, combinatorial, rule-governed, and open-ended. We conclude that, long before language evolved, a discrete, combinatorial system of communication, perception, and cognition – with many of language’s supposedly unique features – was already in place. |
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| responsibles | Spector, Schlenker, Homer |
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