Origins of Language: Constraints on hypotheses
Sverker Johansson has written an unusual book on language origins, with its emphasis on empirical evidence rather than theory-building. This is a book for the student or researcher who prefers solid data and well-supported conclusions, over speculative scenarios. Much that has been written on the origins of language is characterized by hypothesizing largely unconstrained by evidence. But empirical data do exist, and the purpose of this book is to integrate and review the available evidence...
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Johansson (physics, School of Education and Communication, Jonkoping, Sweden) believes he has integrated knowledge from all relevant fields into this undergraduate linguistics text. He begins by describing theories of evolution, including the idea of natural selection as an abstraction process, and applies them to language. He then discusses human origins and evolution, as well as the anatomical and neurological prerequisites for communication, animal communications in the wild, non-human acquisition of language, and the interrelated themes of language, mind and self. Johansson offers a hypothesis of language origin and closes with an examination of proto-language, including speech, gestures, semantics and syntax, and how they are combined. Annotation ©2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR
1Introduction12What is language?53The theory of evolution134Human origins and evolution415Anatomical and neurological prerequisites776Animal communication in the wild1197Can non-humans be taught language?1298Language, mind, and self1439Hypotheses of language origins15710Why did language evolve?19311Proto-language21912Conclusions243
