Cognition and Communication in the Evolution of Language

This book shows that language, though now routinely used for communication, actually primarily evolved as a system for thought. Anne Reboul proposes a new two-step approach whereby syntax first evolved as a language of thought, which was then externalized for communication due to social selection pressures.

List of contents

• 1: Introduction


• 2: The need for a dual account of language evolution


• 3: The specificity of the human conceptual apparatus


• 4: Merge and the lexicalization of concepts


• 5: A mildly Machiavellian view of communication and the Argumentative Theory of Reasoning


• 6: Conclusion


• References


• Index

About the author

Anne Reboul has a Ph.D in linguistics from EHESS, Paris, and a Ph.D in philosophy from the University of Geneva. She is Senior Researcher at CNRS and Co-director of the Institute for Cognitive Sciences-Marc Jeannerod in Lyon. She is interested in pragmatics, language evolution, and artistic practices, and is currently working in experimental pragmatics as part of the EU project AThEME, where she is investigating the impact of L2 learning on pragmatic abilities. She has published widely in French and English, including articles in Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, Mind & Language, Frontiers in Psychology, and Pragmatics and Cognition.

Summary

This book shows that language, though now routinely used for communication, actually primarily evolved as a system for thought. Anne Reboul proposes a new two-step approach whereby syntax first evolved as a language of thought, which was then externalized for communication due to social selection pressures.

Product details

• Authors: Anne Reboul, Anne (Senior Researcher Reboul, Reboul Anne
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 30.09.2019
• EAN: 9780198847243
• ISBN: 978-0-19-884724-3
• No. of pages: 288
• Series: Oxford Studies in Biolinguistics; Oxford Studies in Biolinguisti
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > Linguistics and literary studies > General and comparative linguistics; English, LANGUAGE ARTS & DISCIPLINES / Linguistics / Semantics, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Anthropology / Cultural & Social, Social & cultural anthropology, ethnography, Psycholinguistics, Social and cultural anthropology, Semantics, discourse analysis, stylistics, Psycholinguistics and cognitive linguistics, Semantics, discourse analysis, etc