Origin and evolution of languages : approaches, models, paradigms / edited by Bernard Laks ... [and others].

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Laks, Bernard.

ProQuest (Firm)

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Language and languages--Origin.

Language and languages.

Genetics.

Genre:

Electronic books.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (344 pages) : illustrations, maps

Place of Publication:

London ; Oakville, CT : Equinox, 2008.

System Details:

text file

Summary:

Origin and Evolution of Languages has a strong interdisciplinary flavour designed to highlight the true complexity of the debates in the field. Many of the models and theories proposed can only be validated by bringing together arguments developed across several disciplines. The book emphasises this dimension by including contributions from disciplines that have traditionally been wary of extending beyond their borders: linguistics (different branches thereof), philosophy, history and prehistory, archaeology, anthropology, genetics and computer-modelling. The contributions in this volume are intended to encompass both the agreements and disjunctures characteristic of the field and present approaches that clearly differ from, and even contradict, one another.

While several teams of researchers active in the fields of genetics, linguistics, anthropology and archaeology have come up with new proposals in favour of the 'New Synthesis', many competing hypotheses and models continue to be explored in areal linguistics, language contact and wave-like diffusion. Within anthropology, criticisms of the monogenetic model have led to new debates and counter-arguments. Approaching the issue of the origin and evolution of human languages within a Darwinian paradigm remains problematic. Within archaeology, not all reconstructions are proving compatible with current models for the circulation of techniques, myths and cultures. Within linguistics, debating the origin and evolution of languages - from an evolutionary, cognitive, social or cultural perspective, or in terms of generational transmission and acquisition - may prompt reconsideration of those linguistic theories seeking universals, and of most theories of change and variation.

Contents:

1 Origins and evolution of languages: retrospectives and perspectives / Jean-Paul Demoule, Bernard Laks, Serge Cleuziou, Pierre Encreve 1

2 Genetic evolution and the evolution of languages / Luigi Lucas Cavalli-Sforza 29

3 Languages, genes, and prehistory, with special reference to Europe / Bernard Comrie 40

4 Poor design features in language as clues to its prehistory / Andrew Carstairs-McCarthy 63

5 What can we learn about the earliest human language by comparing languages known today? / Lyle Campbell 79

6 Conceptualization, communication, and the origins of grammar / Frederick J. Newmeyer 112

7 The origin of language as a product of the evolution of modern cognition / Gilles Fauconnier, Mark Turner 133

8 Comparativism: from genealogy to genetics / Bernard Laks 157

9 Simulating the expansion of farming and the differentiation of European languages / Domenico Parisi, Francesco Antinucci, Francesco Natale, Federico Cecconi 192

10 Colin Renfrew's hypothesis on the Near-Eastern origin of the original Indo-European people: an evaluation / Jean-Paul Demoule 215

11 New perspectives on the origin of languages / Merritt Ruhlen 241

12 Linguistic history and computational cladistics / Don Ringe, Tandy Warnow 257

13 What do creoles and pidgins tell us about the evolution of language? / Salikoko S. Mufwene 272

14 Does history begin before Sumer? / Serge Cleuziou 298.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and indexes.

Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, MI : ProQuest, 2015. Available via World Wide Web. Access may be limited to ProQuest affiliated libraries.

OCLC:

612743869

Access Restriction:

Restricted for use by site license.