Origins of language : unraveling evolutionary forces / Nobuo Masataka (ed.).

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Masataka, Nobuo, 1954-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Language and languages--Origin.

Language and languages.

Human evolution.

Anthropological linguistics.

Animal communication.

Primates--Behavior.

Primates.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (163 p.)

Edition:

1st ed. 2008.

Place of Publication:

Tokyo : Springer, 2008.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Developments in cognitive science indicate that human and nonhuman primates share a range of behavioral and physiological characteristics that speak to the issue of language origins. This volume has three major themes, woven throughout the chapters. First, it is argued that scientists in animal behavior and anthropology need to move beyond theoretical debate to a more empirically focused and comparative approach to language. Second, those empirical and comparative methods are described, revealing underpinnings of language, some of which are shared by humans and other primates and others of which are unique to humans. New insights are discussed, and several hypotheses emerge concerning the evolutionary forces that led to the "design" of language. Third, evolutionary challenges that led to adaptive changes in communication over time are considered with an eye toward understanding various constraints that channeled the process.

Contents:

The Gestural Theory of and the Vocal Theory of Language Origins Are Not Incompatible with One Another

The Gestural Origins of Language

World-View of Protolanguage Speakers as Inferred from Semantics of Sound Symbolic Words: A Case of Japanese Mimetics

Japanese Mothers’ Use of Specialized Vocabulary in Infant-Directed Speech: Infant-Directed Vocabulary in Japanese

Short-Term Acoustic Modifications During Dynamic Vocal Interactions in Nonhuman Primates— Implications for Origins of Motherese

Vocal Learning in Nonhuman Primates: Importance of Vocal Contexts

The Ontogeny and Phylogeny of Bimodal Primate Vocal Communication

Understanding the Dynamics of Primate Vocalization and Its Implications for the Evolution of Human Speech

Implication of the Human Musical Faculty for Evolution of Language.

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

1-281-75747-0

9786611757472

4-431-79102-7

OCLC:

288472727