The Origin and Diversification of Language

The Origin and Diversification of Language
ISBN-10
0940228467
ISBN-13
9780940228467
Category
Biolinguistics
Pages
216
Language
English
Published
1998
Publisher
University of California Press
Authors
Nina G. Jablonski, Leslie C. Aiello

Description

Language gives human beings the gift of amazing behavioral flexibility, and yet much remains to be known about how we developed the sophisticated linguistic skills that we take for granted. In this volume, a range of distinguished scientists from disciplines as diverse as primatology, archaeology, neurobiology, and linguistics present the latest evidence on the origin, spread and diversification of language. The ability of human beings to communicate practical and symbolic information of great complexity to one another through the medium of articulate speech is one of the hallmarks of our species. But as with many other key innovations in human evolution, the beginnings of language did not leave direct traces in the fossil record. The exploration of various kinds of indirect evidence has thus proven essential. Making use of the most recent theoretical developments and technological breakthroughs, the contributors to this volume bring a new perspective to questions of language origins and diversification. Distributed for the California Academy of Sciences

Get the book

Amazon.com
Amazon.com
Search the book
eBay.com
eBay.com
Search the book

Other editions

Similar books

  • What the Hands Reveal about the Brain
    What the Hands Reveal about the Brain
    By Edward S. Klima, Ursula Bellugi, Howard Poizner

    See also Paraphasias Karen L. , 82 , 83 Paul D. , 99 , 100-102 rating of , 113-115 of sublexical elements ... J. , 38 Tureen , L. , 38 Tweney , R. , 8 Umilta , C. , 56 , 185 Underwood , J. , 40 Unilateral neglect , 187–188 , 190.

  • The Language Instinct: The New Science of Language and Mind
    The Language Instinct: The New Science of Language and Mind
    By Steven Pinker

    Using examples of the way language is used in daily life from the mouths of children to the pontifications of politicians, Pinker explores this system and our instinct to use it.

  • Language Processing
    Language Processing
    By Martin J. Pickering, Simon Garrod

    Psychologists study many aspects of language, its acquisition, or how it breaks down in various disorders, the central concern of this book questions what happens when we process language and the mental operations that occur.

  • The Language Instinct: The New Science of Language and Mind
    By Steven Pinker

    It comes so naturally that we are apt to forget what a miracle it is. Pursuing the ideas of Darwin and Chomsky, Pinker offers a look at why we use language and where this ability comes from.