Language in Prehistory

For ninety per cent of our history, humans have lived as 'hunters and gatherers', and for most of this time, as talking individuals. No direct evidence for the origin and evolution of language exists; we do not even know if early humans had language, either spoken or signed. Taking an anthropological perspective, Alan Barnard acknowledges this difficulty and argues that we can nevertheless infer a great deal about our linguistic past from what is around us in the present. Hunter-gatherers still inhabit much of the world, and in sufficient number to enable us to study the ways in which they speak, the many languages they use, and what they use them for. Barnard investigates the lives of hunter-gatherers by understanding them in their own terms, to create a book which will be welcomed by all those interested in the evolution of language.

List of contents

1. Introduction; 2. Population diversity and language diversity; 3. What did prehistoric people do?; 4. How did prehistoric people think?; 5. Narratives of the every-day; 6. Mythological narratives; 7. Sexual selection and language evolution; 8. Conclusions and thoughts for the future.

About the author

Alan Barnard is Professor of the Anthropology of Southern Africa at the University of Edinburgh, where he has taught since 1978. He has undertaken ethnographic research with hunter-gatherers in Botswana, Namibia and South Africa. He participated in the British Academy Centenary Research Project 'From Lucy to Language: The Archaeology of the Social Brain'. In 2010, he was elected a Fellow of the British Academy, and he serves as an Honorary Consul of the Republic of Namibia. His numerous publications include Social Anthropology and Human Origins (2011) and Genesis of Symbolic Thought (2012), and this volume completes his series on human origins.

Summary

While no direct evidence for the origin and evolution of language exists, Barnard looks to the present to explain the past, focussing on how modern hunter-gatherers, as non-literate people, use and perceive language. This fascinating book will be welcomed by all those interested in the evolution of language.

Product details

• Authors: Alan Barnard, Alan (University of Edinburgh) Barnard, Barnard Alan
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press ELT
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 05.01.2016
• EAN: 9781107692596
• ISBN: 978-1-107-69259-6
• No. of pages: 195
• Series: Approaches to the Evolution of Language; Approaches to the Evolution of; Approaches to the Evolution of Language
• Subjects: Education and learning > Adult education/adult education classes; Humanities, art, music > Linguistics and literary studies > General and comparative linguistics; Social sciences, law, business > Social sciences (general); Anthropology, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Anthropology / General, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Anthropology / Cultural & Social, Social & cultural anthropology, ethnography, Social and cultural anthropology, Historical & comparative linguistics, Historical and comparative linguistics