Beyond the individual in the evolution of language
This thesis concerns the evolution of language. A proliferation of theoretical models have been presented in recent years purporting to offer evolutionary accounts for various aspects of modern languages. These models rely heavily on abstract mechanistic models of the production and reception of language by modern humans, drawn from various approaches in linguistics which aim at such models. A very basic and ubiquitous assumption is that expressions have meaning in virtue of being associated with internal representations, and that therefore the evolution of language can be modelled on the basis of individuals trying to produce external manifestations of these internal âmeaningsâ. I examine the role of this assumption in language evolution theorising, and review evidence from neuroscience and first language acquisition relevant to the validity of this assumption. The chaotic nature of the relationship between âmeaningâ and the brain undermines the supposition that the evolution of language was driven by spontaneous association between internal structures and external forms. I then turn to the philosophical basis of language evolution theorising, adopting a Wittgensteinian perspective on the cognitive
Hawkey, David J. C.
language evolution ; Wittgenstein ; color terms
Beyond the individual in the evolution of language. This thesis concerns the evolution of language. A proliferation of theoretical models have been presented in recent years purporting to offer evolutionary accounts for various aspects of modern languages. These models rely heavily on abstract mechanistic models of the production and reception of language by modern humans, drawn from various approaches in linguistics which aim at such models. A very basic and ubiquitous assumption is that expressions have meaning in virtue of being associated with internal representations, and that therefore the evolution of language can be modelled on the basis of individuals trying to produce external manifestations of these internal âmeaningsâ. I examine the role of this assumption in language evolution theorising, and review evidence from neuroscience and first language acquisition relevant to the validity of this assumption. The chaotic nature of the relationship between âmeaningâ and the brain undermines the supposition that the evolution of language was driven by spontaneous association between internal structures and external forms. I then turn to the philosophical basis of language evolution theorising, adopting a Wittgensteinian perspective on the cognitive
beyond individual evolution_language concern evolution_language proliferation theoretical_model present purport offer evolutionary account various_aspect modern_language model rely_heavily abstract mechanistic model production reception language modern_human draw various_approach linguistics aim model basic ubiquitous assumption expression mean virtue associate internal_representation therefore evolution_language model basis individual try produce external manifestation internal meaning examine_role assumption language_evolution theorising review evidence neuroscience first_language_acquisition relevant validity assumption chaotic nature_relationship mean brain undermines supposition evolution_language driven spontaneous association internal_structure external form turn philosophical_basis language_evolution theorising adopt wittgensteinian perspective cognitive