Adam's Tongue: How Humans Made Language, How Language Made Humans

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Adam's Tongue: How Humans Made Language, How Language Made Humans Page 34

by Bickerton, Derek


  Condillac, Etienne Bonnot de, 74

  Congo, 112

  consciousness, 5, 208

  continental drift, theory of, 154

  continuity paradox, 35–36

  cooperation, 58

  cotton-top tamarin monkeys, 175–76

  courtship dances, 19

  coyotes, 203

  creationism, 94, 149

  creativity, 209, 245

  credibility, 28; language and, 28, 30–32

  Creole languages, 38, 176, 187, 234

  crickets, 16, 24

  Cro-Magnons, 214, 246

  crows, 88

  culture, n, 104, 107; wars, 7, 178

  Current Anthropology, 45

  cut marks, on bones, 125–26, 220

  D

  dams, beavers’, 93, 99

  dances, courtship, 19

  Dart, Raymond, 112

  Darwin, Charles, 5, 7, 19, 25, 62, 74, 86, 87, 95, 195–96; earthworms and, 100–101; The Origin of Species, 148

  Darwinism, 7, 9, 29, 74, 75, 95–97, 171, 195–96, 197

  Dawkins, Richard, 10, 99, 103, 153; The Extended Phenotype, 99; The Selfish Gene, 55; on “variable speedism, ” 153

  Deacon, Terrence, 49–50, 226; The Symbolic Species, 49, 52

  decorated bower, 19

  deforestation, n deinotheriums, 122, 158

  de La Mettrie, Julien, 74, 75; L’Homme Machine, 74

  Dennett, Daniel, 35, 98, 223; Darwin’s Dangerous Idea, 98

  Dessalles, Jean-Louis, 221

  de Waal, Frans, 59, 90, in Dezzani, Ray, 122, 123

  Diana monkeys, 42, 200–201

  Diderot, Denis, 74

  Diogenes, 5

  discontinuity, 8–9

  displacement, 50–51, 140, 145, 160, 216; bee, 131–34; in recruitment signals, 216–18

  DNA, 30, 55, 104; discovery of, 55

  Dobzhansky, Theodosius, 92, 148

  dogs, 21, 22, 24, 33, 87; wild, 119

  dolphins, 16, 85, 86, 87, 88, 101

  domesticated animals, 97, 247

  donkeys, 150

  dualism, 81

  Dunbar, Robin, 27, 185; “grooming and gossip” theory, 27–28

  E

  eagles, 43, 114; alarm calls, 44, 45, 68–70, 200–201

  earthworms, 100–102

  East Africa, 43, 63, 123

  ecology, 58; ancestors and, 112, 114, 116–17, 155–57, 165; language and, 28, 30; niche, 100; see also environment; habitat; niche

  construction ego-centered ape conversation, 78–79

  Einstein, Albert, 3, 48

  Ekorus, 114

  Eldredge, Niles, 153; theory of punctuated

  equilibrium, 153–54

  elephants, 20; carcasses, as food source, 122–24, 158; population, 124–25;

  trunk, 20–21; tusks, 124

  Eliot, T. S., 245

  ELIZA program, 170

  e-mail, 4, 91, 185

  Encyclopedia Britannica, 5

  endurance hunting, 118–19

  energy, 33, 159, 192

  Enlightenment, 62, 74

  environment, 10, 11, 63–64; adaptation and, 10–11, 94, 105; behavior and, 63–64; climate change, 94, 109, 112, 117, 154; genetics and, 10, 84, 94, 99–103, 109–10, 115; language and, 30; niche construction and, 99–100, 109–27, 155–57, 164–68; see also ecology; habitat

  estrus, 19, 111

  Everett, Dan, 238, 239

  evo-devo, 129, 130

  evolution, 5–12, 19, 146–48, 231, 248; agenda, 7–8; Chomsky on, 169–91; Darwinism vs. Lamarckism, 95–96; dogma, 7–9; evolution of, 95–97; genetics and, 55, 102–103, no; history of, 95; niche construction and, 99–105, 148–56, 161; speciation and, 148–56; see also human evolution; language evolution

  F

  Falk, Dean, 70–72, 212, 213

  Feldman, Marcus, 98; Niche Construction: The Neglected Process in Evolution, 99

  female choice, 19, 29–30; language and, 29–30

  Fibonacci numbers, 185

  figment, 223

  finches, 101

  fire, 213, 222

  fireflies, 16

  fish, 24

  fission-fusion social structure, 63, 136, 139, 140, 156

  Fitch, Tecumseh, 139, 171; Science paper on language evolution, 128, 171–91, 245

  fitness, 18–20, 21, 22–23, 25, 132, 205, 216

  221, 222, 234; ACSs and, 18–20, 22–23, 132; inclusive, 132; mating signals and, 19; social signals and, 19–20; survival

  signals and, 18–19

  FLB, 173, 180

  flight, 9; insect, 9

  FLN, 173, 179, 180, 239

  floods, 222

  Florida State University, 70

  Foley, Robert, 149, 150, 151

  food, 61, 142, 150; ancestors and, 111–27, 150–53, 161–68, 218–21; of ants, 135–39, 141–42; of bees, 132–34; bone marrow, 120–21, 127, 151, 152, 155, 220; large animals as, 122–27; meat, 56, 100, 117–18, 121–27, 150–51, 161–68, 218–21; megafauna carcasses, 121–27, 155–56, 161–68, 218–21, 247; niches and, 100, 117–27, 133, 154–68; optimal foraging theory, 125, 126–27, 54–56; plants, in, 112, 117, 157; regurgitation, 138; see also specific food sources

  food calls, 18, 19, 45–46, 51, 132

  “food peep” vocalization, 60

  foraging, 100, in, 134, 136, 139, 140, 155–57, 165, 167; gender roles in, 156–57; habitat and, 155–57; optimal foraging theory, 125, 126–27, 154–56

  forests, 64, in, 112, 117

  Forrest, Nathan Bedford, 127

  fossil record, 30, 104, 112, 125, 149, 148, 212

  Fourth International Conference on Language Evolution (2002, Cambridge, Mass.), 172

  foxes, 203

  FOXP2, 110

  frogs, 16, 33, 100

  functional reference, 44, 115, 165, 215–16

  G

  Galapagos Islands, 101

  games, 4

  game theory, 31

  Gardner, Allen, 73–74, 76

  Gardner, Beatrice, 73–74, 76

  gender roles, prehuman, 156–57, 161–64

  generativists, 244

  genetics, 10, 12, 54, 55, 83–84, 95, 129–30, 176; behavior and, 96–97, 99–100, 106, 130, 142, 184; discovery of double helix structure of DNA, 55; environment and, 10, 84, 94, 99–103, 109–10, 115; evolution and, 55, 102–103, 110; language and, no; mutations, 10, 84, 97, 110, 134; niches and, 99–103, 110, 131, 132, 134, 176, 214–15; selfish gene notion, 32; speciation and, 149–50, 214; variation, 10, 94, 95–97, 110, 130, 171, 183

  gestures, 59–60 “getting it, ” 81–83

  gibbons, 16, 56; singing, 61–65; see also bonobos giraffes, 20, 130

  goats, 11

  Goodall, Jane, In the Shadow of Man, 57

  gorillas, 24, 55, 56, 61, 85, 146

  gossip, 10, 27–28, 185; “grooming and

  gossip” theory, 27–28

  Gould, Stephen Jay, 93; theory of

  punctuated equilibrium, 153–54

  gracile australopithecines, 112–15, 117

  grammar, 52, 66, 76, 186, 188; Chomsky

  on, 241–45

  grasshoppers, 16

  grasslands, 56, 63, 112, 116, 117–18

  great apes, 10, 13, 54, 55–56, 114, 200; ACSs of, 56–57, 59–61, 116–17; carnivores and, 117–18; DNA of, 55; language abilities of, 73–91, 201–202; niches of, 109–110, in; singing-ape

  hypothesis, 61–65; social competitiveness, 56; see also apes; bonobos; chimpanzees;

  gorillas; orangutans Griffin (parrot), 85

  grizzly bears, 203

  grooming, 27; “grooming and gossip” theory, 27–28; language as substitute for, 27 “grooming and gossip” theory, 27–28

  group selection, 32, 115

  group size, 28

  guano, 11

  H

  habitat, 63–64, 100, 112; ancestors and, 112, 116–17, 155–57, 165; beaver, 93–94; foraging and, 155–57; see also specific habitats

  hairl
essness, 20

  hand ax, see Achulean hand ax

  Hauser, Marc, 16, 50, 170, 171; The Evolution of Communication, 172, 175, 177–78; Science paper on language evolution, 128, 171–91, 245

  Hawaii, n, 85, 225, 234

  Hayes, Cathy, 74

  Hayes, Keith, 74

  Hebb, Donald, 82

  Hebb’s Rule, 82, 202

  Heinrich, Bernd, Ravens in Winter, 139

  herding, 97, 213; niche, 109, 246

  Herman, Lou, 85

  Herrnstein, Richard, 198; The Bell Curve, 198

  hippopotami, 122, 124

  Hockett, Charles, 45, 174–75; “The Human Revolution, ” 45

  holistic signals, 65–70

  HÖlldobler, Bert, 137

  Holyoak, Keith, 195

  homocentric bias, 13, 47, 57, 107, 134

  Homo erectus, 146, 147, 151–52, 213

  Homo ergaster, 146, 225

  Homo habilis, 120, 121, 146, 151–52, 164

  homology, 59, 86–87, 120, 129-31, 144

  Homo sapiens, 5, 142, 146, 147, 224

  horses, 75–76, 150

  human ancestors, 49, 58, 63, 109–27; climate change and, 112, 117; food sources, in-27, 150–56, 161–68, 218–21; gender roles, 156–57, 161–64; habitat and, 112, 116–17, 155–57, !65; hunting, 117–19; megafauna carcass diet of, 121–27, 155–56, 161–68, 218–21, 247; niches of, 109–27, 150–68, 219–21; prédation and, 113–14, 117–19, 155–68; recruitment and, 138, 159–68, 215–19; scavenging, 119–27, 143, 145, 154–68, 218–21; social life of, 113–15; speciation and, 150–56, 214; see also specific ancestors

  human evolution, 6, 7, 55, 114, 146–48, 213, 248; mother-child communication, 70–72; niche construction and, 103–105, 107, 109–27, 148–56, 161–68, 219–21; “Out of Africa” vs. multiregional hypotheses, 147; speciation and, 148–56; see also evolution; language evolution

  hummingbirds, 160

  hunting, 10, 13, 26, 100, 213; ambush, 118; ancestors and, 117–19; endurance, 118–19; gender roles in, 157, 161

  hunting-and-gathering niche, 109, 156–57, 167, 214, 248

  hurricanes, 222

  hyenas, 100, 114, 119, 127, 158

  hymenoptera, 131–34

  I

  ichthyosaurs, 86

  iconic signs, 52–54, 160–61, 190, 218, 221

  imagination, 5

  indexical signs, 47–49, 51, 52, 53, 190, 218, 221

  India, 248

  industrialization, 213, 246

  infants, 70–72, 218; human, 70–72; mother-child communication, 70–72; “nursing poke” in apes, 19; weaning, 96

  informative vs. manipulative

  communication, 47–49

  insects, 9, 17, 24; flight in, 9; as food, 113; recruitment strategies, 131–39; see also specific insects instinct, 133–34, 42, vs. learning, 105–108

  intelligence, 33–34, 56, 58, 109, 195, 199, 213, 214, 249; brain size and, 32–34, 213; concepts and, 195–210; language and, 58; niche and, 199; social, 26–27, 56

  Intelligent Design, 8, 34, 94, 149

  intonation, 188, 238

  IQ.34

  Itard, Jean, 74

  Ivory Coast, 26, 104, 120, 203

  Tablonski, Nina, 33

  J

  jackals, 26

  Jackendoff, Ray, 179–80

  Japanese macaque monkeys, 104, 203

  Tespersen, Otto, 62

  K

  kangaroos, 20

  Kanzi (bonobo), 78, 81, 84, 85, 89

  keystone species, 93

  kin, 114–15

  Kissinger, Henry, 29

  Knight, Chris, 31

  Koran, 134

  L

  lactose intolerance, 96–97, 248

  ladder-to-language theory, 56–57, 60, 116

  Lahr, Marta, 149, 150, 151

  Laland, Kevin, 98; Niche Construction: The Neglected Process in Evolution, 99

  Lamarck, Jean-Baptiste, 95

  Lamarckism, 95–97

  Lana, 82, 84

  language: acquisition in children, 77–79, 185–86, 222; as autocatalytic process, 234; definition of, 3–4; FLB, 173, 180; FLN, 173, 179, 180, 239; instantaneity in acquisition of, 185–87; ladder-to-language theory, 56–57, 60, 116; music and, 61–65; properties vs. mechanisms of, 175; vs. protolinguistic modes, 234–38; see also créole languages; grammar; language evolution; linguistics; pidgin languages; protolanguage; syntax; words; vocabulary

  Language and Species (Bickerton), 35, 40

  language evolution, 3–15; ACSs as precursors of words, 43–47, 116, 144; barriers to, 215–18; big-brain fallacy, 32–34; Chomsky on, 168, 169–91, 192, 245; continuity paradox, 35–36; credibility and, 28, 30–32; ecology and, 28, 30; gestures, 59–60; Hauser-Chomsky-Fitch model of, 128, 171–91, 245; ladder-to-language approach, 56–57, 60, 116; natural selection and, 171–72, 183–85; need and utility issues, 242–48; niche construction and, 92–108, 121, 164–68, 176, 219–21; pidgins and, 38–41; primate-centric bias in, 10, 30, 46–47, 55–57, 58; recruitment and, 132–42, 164–68, 215–19; recursion and, 173–74, 79, 238–45; selfishness and, 28, 32, 166; singing-ape hypothesis, 61–70; slow development of language, 211–31; uniqueness and, 20–24, 28–30, 165, 167, 173, 178

  leaf-cutter ants, 105–106

  Leakey, Maeve, 151

  learning vs. instinct, 105–108

  Lennenberg, Eric, 6; Biological Foundations of Language, 6

  leopards, 43, 182; alarm calls, 43, 44, 116, 182, 200, 206; concept of, 206–207

  Leptothorax, 138

  Lewontin, Richard, 99

  lexigrams, 167, 169–70, 234–35

  linguistics, 167, 169–70, 234–45; Chomsky and, 169–91, 235–45

  Linnaeus, Carl, 5

  lions, 26, 119, 150

  lizards, 16, 113

  London, 31

  Lorenz, Konrad, 17

  Lower Paleolithic, 225

  lumpers, 148

  lying, 26, 31

  M

  macaque monkeys, 104, 203

  MacArthur, Robert, 126

  Machiavellian strategies, 114, 141

  Macphail, Evan, 33, 34

  macroevolution, 149–50

  mammoths, 122, 208, 209, 218, 219

  manipulation, 47–49, 79; vs. informative

  communication, 47–49

  Marcus, Gary, 192, 193

  marrow, bone, 120–21, 127, 151, 152, 155, 220

  marsh, 100

  mating, 10, 19, 63; female choice in, 19, 29–30; see also mating signals mating signals, 16–17, 18, 19–20, 51; courtship dances, 19; fitness and, 19; swelling of female genitalia, 19; see also sexual display Matrix, The (film), 34

  Maupertuis, Pierre, 74

  Mayr, Ernst, 129

  meat, 49; diet, 56, 100, 117–18, 121–27, 150–51, 161–68, 218–21; megafauna carcasses, 121–27, 155–56, 161–68, 218–21, 247; natural decay, 122; women as butchers of, 162–64

  memes, 98, 192

  memory, 206–207

  Mendel, Gregor, 95

  mental representation systems, 35

  Merge, 181, 182, 186–90, 234, 235, 242–45

  microevolution, 149–50

  milk, 96–97; lactose intolerance, 96–97, 248; weaning, 96

  Miller, Geoffrey, 29, 62

  mind, 192–210; brain function, 192–95; concepts, 195–210; nonhuman vs. human, 195–97; see also brain; intelligence

  Mithen, Steven, 65, 68; The Singing Neanderthals, 62

  monkeys, 16, 26, 42–44, 104, 200–201; ACSs of, 60–61, 116, 144, 175–76; alarm calls, 42–44, 47, 53, 60–61, 68–69, 116–17, 200–201, 206; “boom” vocalization, 42; as chimp prey, 117–18; concepts and, 200–201

  monogamy, 62, 63

  morphology, 38

  Morse code, 144

  mother-child communication, in humans, 70–72

  Müller, Max, 74–75

  multiple births, 96

  music, 27; language and, 61–65

  mus
ilanguage, 62–65

  N

  natural selection, 11, 13, 96, 122, 149, 183–85, 199; language evolution and, 171–73, 183–85

  Nature, 177

  Nauru, 11

  Neanderthals, 5, 146, 147, 213, 246

  need, 24; language and, 24–28

  negation, 222

  neurons, 82–83, 194, 195, 201, 205, 207, 233

  New Caledonian crow, 197

  Newton, Isaac, 3

  New Yorker, The, 238

  New York Times, The, 33

  niche, definition of, 100

  niche construction, 11–12, 35, 92–108, 130–31, 231, 246, 247–49; ancestors and, 109–27, 150–68, 219–21; bees and, 131–34; cofounders of theory, 98–99; definition of theory, 99–103; evolution and, 99–105, 148–56, 161; food and, 100, 117–27, 133, 154–68; genetics and, 99–103, 110, 131, 132, 134, 176, 214–15; great apes and, 109–10, in; human evolution and, 103–105, 107, 109–27, 148–56, 161–68, 219–21; intelligence and, 199; language evolution and, 92–108, 121, 164–68, 176, 219–21; recruitment and, 132–42, 215–19; scavenging and, 109, 119–27, 154–68, 219–21; speciation and, 150–56, 214; see also specific niches

  nouns, 237–38, 241, 242

  “nursing poke, ” 19

  O

  oceans, 100

  O’Connell, James, 164

  Odling-Smee, John, 98–99, 103, 105, 246; Niche Construction: The Neglected

  Process in Evolution, 99

  Odum, Eugene, 100; Fundamentals of Ecology, 100

  Oldowan toolmaking, 120, 123

  Old Stone Age, 225

  optimal foraging theory, 125, 126–27, 154–56

  orangutans, 25, 55, 56, 85, 147 “Out of Africa” hypothesis, 147

  oxygen, 102

  P

  pair-bonding, 63

  paleontology, 148, 212–13

  pantomime, 65

  Papua New Guinea, 230

  parrots, 10, 25, 85, 86, 87, 88, 196; language

  potential of, 10, 85

  peacocks, 20; tail, 20, 29

  Penn, Derek, 8, 9, 195

  Pepperburg, Irene, 10, 55, 85, 86, 196

  Pepys, Samuel, 73–74

  Percrocuta, 114

  Pfungst, Oskar, 75–76

  phenotype, 99, 214

  phonology, 37–38

  photosynthesis, 102

  Pianka, Eric, 126

  pidgin languages, 38–41, 65, 88, 187–88, 223–26, 230, 231, 232, 234

  pigeons, 198–99

  Pinker, Steven, 115, 172, 179–80; The Language Instinct, 20–21

  Pirahā, 238, 239

  plants, 102, 155; food source, in, 112, 117, 157; photosynthesis, 102

  plate tectonics, 154

  Plato, 4–5, 103, 204

  Pleistocene, 113, 156

  Pliocene, 71, 113

  pointing, 65

 

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