How Language Began

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How Language Began Page 38

by Daniel L. Everett


  occlusive modes 180, 189

  oesophageal sphincter 191

  oestrus, hidden 38

  ‘OK’ sign 234–5

  Olduvai Gorge 5, 36–7, 54, 57*, 96

  Olduwan toolkit 37, 54–5, 55, 62, 96–8, 97

  onomatopoeia 17, 87

  orang-utans 6, 19, 24, 37–8, 55

  organs

  absence of language specific 88, 139, 152

  function attribution as cultural 156

  origin of life 19, 21

  origins of language

  ban on speculative papers 7

  as both biological and cultural 9

  importance of conversation 5

  innateness claims 83, 130, 136, 139, 141, 160–1, 243, 248

  mono- and polygenesis 271

  overall argument summarised xvii

  sign progression theory 6–7, 33 65

  single genetic mutation proposal 6, 45, 68, 70–1

  sudden emergence theory 71

  three hypotheses 77–80

  origins of modern humans 6, 35, 46–7

  Orrorin spp. 114, 126

  O. tugenensis 41, 42

  otters 55

  overinterpretation, animal communication 44

  P

  Pabbi Hills, Pakistan 63

  pair-bonding 39, 56

  Paley, William, Natural Theology 20

  panspermia 21–2

  paradigmatic organisation 203–4, 206

  parallel processing 117–18, 126

  Paranthropus spp. 37, 54

  Parker, Quanah 278

  Parkinson’s disease 193

  Pauling, Linus 28, 47

  Pavlov’s dogs (Ivan Pavlov) 151, 291

  Peirce, Charles Sanders

  breadth of interests 16

  and the G3 language type 224

  importance of the interpretant 88, 93, 202

  ‘infinite semiosis’ 104

  theories of sign progression 16–18, 65, 84, 90

  penis size 131

  Pepperberg, Irene 83, 106*

  perception, co-evolution in 176–7, 183, 186, 208, 214

  perlocutionary acts/effects 232, 257–8

  Perruchet, Pierre 153

  personal ornaments 102

  perspiration 38, 39*, 41

  persuasion, use of 258

  pharyngeal sounds 181

  phatic language 169, 264, 274

  phenotypes

  culture effects on 125–6

  as shared 276, 280–1

  as target of natural selection 27–8, 30

  phonation 176, 184, 192–3

  phoneme groupings 87, 190, 203, 205–6, 212

  phonemes, language specific 181, 203

  phonetics

  acoustic phonetics 176, 183

  articulatory phonetics 176, 182–3

  auditory phonetics 176, 186

  as a branch of linguistics 15, 105

  distinguished from phonology 209

  The International Phonetic Alphabet 179

  three subfields of 176

  phonology

  as a branch of linguistics 15, 105

  distinguished from phonetics 209

  hierarchy of units 210–11

  memory–expression tensions 207

  and SLI 161

  and Universal Grammar 205*

  phrases, as a form of chunking 78, 200, 210

  phrenology 154, 158

  phylogenetic trees 18–19, 19, 24, 41–2, 42

  physiology, human, adaptation for speech 191

  Pierpont, Elizabeth I. 161–2

  Pike, Kenneth 213, 231, 235, 242, 249, 284

  ‘etic’ and ‘emic’ knowledge 202

  Pinker, Steven 162

  Pirahã people and language

  beliefs 287

  concept of fatherhood 276

  conversational analysis 264–5

  dependence on word order 221–2

  facial features and body shape 280–1

  Fitch’s experiment with 153

  as a G2 languages 222

  grooming behaviour 169

  indications of truthfulness 252–3

  lacking hierarchical grammar 105

  male and female speech 87

  simulfixes in 216

  social structures 286–7

  sound symbolism and 87–8

  as a tone language 117, 184

  unique sounds in 183–4

  whether structured 245

  word order 247

  Pirro Nord, Italy 63

  pitch

  as a highlighter 233

  production by the larynx 176

  variations 197–9

  see also intonation

  planning 32–3, 49, 56, 59, 64, 75, 92, 96

  Plato 242

  Pleistocene evolution 52–4

  Plesiadapis tricuspidens 23

  Plio-Pleistocene Tethys 57

  politeness 258–9

  population bottlenecks 29, 34, 80

  population genetics 34–5

  Portuguese 1, 3, 66, 85, 215–16

  Post, Emile 218

  posterior association cortex 115

  pragmatics, as a branch of linguistics 15, 105, 256, 260

  pragmatism, as a branch of philosophy 16

  prefrontal cortex 82, 96

  primates

  communication among the great apes 42

  and the fossil record 41

  origins 23–4, 41

  sexual dimorphism 38–9

  primate research

  Louis Leakey and 37

  phonation 193

  Principles of Geology, by Charles Lyell 70

  procedural deficit hypothesis 162

  procedural memory 155, 162

  procedural motor skills 135, 162

  prognathism 40, 52, 117

  prosody 213

  Proto-Indo-European language 270

  protolanguages 61–3, 165*, 224–5

  Q

  quality, maxim of 252–4

  quantity, maxim of 252–4

  questions, recognising 199, 201

  queueing 290

  ‘quiet breathing’ 193

  Quintilian (Marcus Fabius Quintlianus) 233

  R

  Ramón y Cajal, Santiago 134, 142

  random inheritance of alleles 27, 29

  rattlesnake incident xiv, 8

  receptive aphasia 164

  Reck, Hans 36–7

  recursion

  absence from SAE languages 222–3

  and centre-embedding 223

  in complex sentences 33, 82, 227*

  in G3 languages 17, 106*, 224, 292

  in human cognition 104

  language as recursive grammar 68, 224

  possible acquisition 31, 33, 215, 227

  recursive hierarchical grammars 218

  relative clauses 215

  relevance, maxim of 252, 254

  relevance theory 260, 262

  representative acts 257–8

  reproductive peculiarities, Homo sapiens 114

  reptilian brain 135, 193

  respiratory tract, speech production 175

  Rey, Arnaud 153

  Riau language 105, 151*, 221–2

  right hemisphere 115–16, 139, 143–4

  ritualised lamentation 101

  Riwat, Pakistan 57*, 63

  Role and reference grammar theory 198*

  Romance languages 215–16

  S

  Sabatão, of the Banawá people 1–4

  SAE (Standard Average European) languages 222–3

  Safina, Carl 225

  ‘Sahara pump’ 52

  Sahelanthropus spp. 114–15

  S. tchadensis 41–2, 42, 111

  Sahin, Ned 137

  saltation 70–1, 148, 228

  Sapir, Edward 197, 227, 234, 269

  ‘satisficing’ principle 98, 249, 260

  Saussure, Ferdinand de 203

  scarecrow, Wizard of Oz 111

  schizophreni
a 193

  Schleicher, August 270–1

  Schoenemann, Tom 126

  Schöningen spears 92–4, 93

  Schützenberger, Marcel 218

  science

  emerging from culture 23

  importance of doubt 14

  seafaring skills, Homo erectus 59–60, 118

  Searle, John 226, 256, 262

  ‘segregation’ principle 26

  semantic memory 156

  semantics, as a branch of linguistics 15, 105

  semiotic progression 17, 77, 84, 86, 243

  semiotics

  defined 16, 65

  ‘infinite semiosis’ 104

  senses, perception as inborn 124

  sensory aphasia 164

  sensory memory 154

  sentences

  complex sentences as unnecessary 31

  constituent structures 78, 79, 219, 220, 246

  shared and new knowledge 201

  stories using non-complex sentences 32

  see also syntax

  sex differences

  in brain sizes 132

  in speech 86

  sexual dimorphism 38–9, 56

  sexual partners, access to 39, 41, 56

  sexual positions 288

  sexual segregation 3

  sexual selection

  and body hair 41

  for communication skills 106

  for complex sentences 31–2

  for a grammar mutation 80

  physical attributes and intelligence 131–2

  ‘Shamalamadingdong!’ example exclamation 212, 239–40

  Shannon, Claude 261, 263

  shared knowledge, signalling 201, 288

  Shaw, George Bernard 172

  Shea, John 118

  shell-carvings 86, 94–5, 95

  short-term memory/working memory 154–6, 200, 206, 211, 219, 246

  sign languages

  bodily movements involved 234–6

  and cognitive structures 89, 190–1, 194

  communities lacking other languages 243

  could not precede spoken languages 236

  and language innateness 248

  learned by animals 105*

  as manual-visual communication 189–91, 214–15*

  and phonology 214–15*

  procedural memory in 155

  as stabilised gestures 241–3

  as syllabic 191

  sign progression theory 6–7, 33, 65, 83

  see also semiotic progression

  Silverstein, Michael 87, 104

  Simon, Herbert 81, 105, 249, 260

  Simpler Syntax, by Ray Jackendoff and Peter Culicover 151*

  simulfixes 216

  skeleton, evolution 37–8

  skull shape

  endocasts 115, 130, 158

  foramen magnum 38, 158

  ridges 38, 40

  SLI (specific language impairment) 121, 160–3

  slots, in grammars 203–5, 244, 285

  gesture-slotted speech 242

  language-slotted gestures 235, 241–2

  smell, sense of 38, 39

  snakes and tree roots 90, 100, 103, 291

  social difficulties and ASD 165–7

  social group identification 210

  social roles 16, 50, 57, 87, 101–2, 275, 283, 285

  status markers 87, 102–4, 149

  sociolinguistics 227*, 260

  Socotra, Indonesia 59–60

  ‘solution space’ 200

  sonority 205–6, 209, 210

  sound-based memories 155

  sound symbolism 87–8

  sounds

  changed by syllable structure 208–9

  ejective and implosive 178

  ingressive and egressive 177, 180

  number of sounds and languages 189

  speech sound technical labels 188–9

  voiced and voiceless 189, 208–9

  specialisation of tasks 62, 113, 286

  speech

  achievable communication speeds 190

  airflow noise and 183–4

  as an invention 176

  and brain size 194

  breathing control 193

  filtering of meaning 61

  highlighting in 7, 199, 203, 212–13, 229, 232–3, 235–40

  of Homo erectus 116–17, 173

  The International Phonetic Alphabet 179

  language as preceding 173–4, 207

  ‘talking like who you talk with’ 273, 280–2

  speech acts 240, 256, 257–8, 260, 265

  speech production

  as assimilative, not digital 208

  co-evolution with perception 176–7, 183, 186, 208

  complexity of 174–5

  and dentition 41

  see also vocal apparatus

  Sperber, Dan 260, 262

  status markers 87, 102–4, 149

  Stegodontidae 58–60

  stereotyped behaviour 167

  stone tools as partial evidence 118

  Stoneking, Mark 46

  stories

  and tacit knowledge 287–8

  using non-complex sentences 32

  ‘strength’ as an example word 190, 206–7

  strokes 139, 163

  structured knowledge and culture 15–16, 279

  styloid process 38

  Subject-Object-Verb order 220, 247

  Subject-Verb-Object order 219, 247

  Sunda Shelf/islands/subduction zone 57*, 58, 94

  supervowels 192

  supralaryngeal vocal tract (SVT) 191

  Swadesh, Morris 272

  sweating 38, 39*, 41

  syllabic groupings

  and duality of patterning 205

  as hierarchical 209

  in modern speech 190

  sign languages 89

  syllables

  Homo erectus and 206

  loudness variations 205–6, 210

  sign languages as syllabic 191

  symbols

  in binary arithmetic 188

  following indexes and icons 7, 65, 90, 103

  importance of the interpretant 18

  and intentionality 103

  and language origins 77–9, 291

  necessarily preceding grammar 83

  in sign progression theory 7, 17, 65, 83, 86

  sound symbolism 87–8

  status markers 87, 102–4, 149

  tools as 73, 92

  use by Homo erectus 60, 62, 106, 225

  synaptic plasticity 122

  syntagmatic organisation 203–6, 204

  syntax

  apparent use by animals 105

  as a branch of linguistics 15

  complexity as unnecessary 31, 73–4, 118–19, 221

  and the Merge theory 150–1

  morphosyntactic hierarchy 213, 214

  and SLI 161

  ‘syntax mutation’ example 31–3

  T

  tacit knowledge

  derived from culture 290

  in formant perception 186

  in interpretation 275

  in the manufacture of language 236

  see also dark matter

  Tager-Flusberg, Helen 168

  ‘talking like who you talk with’ principle 273, 280–2

  Tattersall, Ian 71, 97

  teeth

  erectus canines 56

  parabolic dental arcade 38, 41

  Teilhardina (Pierre Teilhard de Chardin) 24

  temperature control 38, 39*, 41

  Tethys geotectonic corridor 57*

  theory of culture 273

  theory of mind 43, 46, 168

  thermal regulation

  and sweating 38, 39*, 41

  and upright posture 41

  thought

  brain regions and 115

  expression of 74

  whether language is involved 76, 85*

  tone languages 184

  tongue 82, 89, 173–4, 180

  tool use

  as
cultural 287

  Homo erectus 54, 96–7, 118

  Homo floresiensis 129

  and intentionality 93–4, 103

  and language evolution 73, 95–9, 118

  by other animal species 54–5

  other than stone tools 118

  toolkits

  Acheulean 37, 56, 58. 95, 97–8, 99

  Levallois 56, 98, 100

  Mousterian 62

  Olduwan 37, 54–5, 55, 62, 96–8, 97

  tools

  Schöningen spears 92–4, 93

  as symbols 73, 92

  topic and comment structure 246, 248

  Torá people 280

  transcription factors 139–40

  Treaty of Medicine Lodge 274–5, 277–8, 286

  tree diagrams

  language evolution 270

  sentences 79, 79–80

  triality of patterning 239

  Turgeon, Yves 160

  Turing, Alan 261, 287

  Turkana people, Kenya 239

  Turkish language 216, 221

  Tzeltal language, Mexico 178

  U

  Ubeidya site, Israel 63

  Ullman, Michael T. 161–2

  underdeterminacy

  natural conversation 3–4

  newspaper articles 251

  pragmatic resolution 66, 256

  uniformitarianism 70–1, 73, 89

  universal grammar idea 6, 202, 205*

  upright posture and walking 37–41, 52

  Urban, Greg 101

  V

  vagueness see ambiguity

  values, as defining a culture 68, 251, 282–4

  van der Lely, Heather 162

  Van Veen, Stuyvesant 233

  Venus of Berekhat Ram 86, 99–100, 101

  verb forms, English 215, 247

  Verb-Subject-Object order 219, 247

  Verhoeven, Theodor 58

  vision

  hominins dependence on 38–9

  as unlike language 141

  visual cortex 115, 138

  vocal apparatus 89–90, 134, 173, 193, 207, 214

  vocal cords 178, 183–4, 189, 192–3, 208

  vocalisation

  and breathing in animals and infants 191, 193

  and eating in animals and infants 181

  voicing 189, 208–9

  Voltaire 249

  vowel spectrograms 185, 185–6

  vowels

  back vowels 174, 182

  California vowels 181, 182

  cardinal or quantal vowels 208

  creaky voice 178

  dentition and 41

  Homo erectus speech 116–17

  in the IPA 179, 179–82

  lax and tense 181

  minimum requirement 89–90, 187

  modern humans 192–3

  non-concatenative systems 216

  phoneme patterns 190

  production 208–9

  sonority 205

  W

  Wallace, Alfred 157

  Wari’ language and culture 151*, 287

  ‘watchmaker’ analogy 19–21

  Wernicke’s aphasia 164

  Wernicke’s area 134, 139, 164

  white matter 122, 132, 140, 143, 158

  Wilson, Allan 46

  Wilson, Deirdre 260, 262

  Wittenburg, Eva 151*

  Wolfe, Tom 9, 172

  word order 199–200, 219–21, 247–8

  words

 

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