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The Origins of Language - An Introduction to Evolutionary Linguistics

English · Paperback / Softback

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Description

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This book offers an introduction to the multidisciplinary subject of evolutionary linguistics, which seeks to explain the biological origins of language and its subsequent development in humans. Roughly six million years ago, a branch of hominids from the forests of East Africa started to thrive in the drier environment created by the East African Rift System. A host of physical developments culminated in the brains of early humans increasing dramatically in size and cognitive power. Influenced by a unique and complex social organisation, communication signals became much more diverse and dependent on memory and learning mechanisms. But language is not only used to interact with our fellow beings. It is also closely connected to our thoughts. This makes language a biological, social, cultural and cognitive phenomenon all at once. What precise role did each of these aspects play in the emergence of language and how were they all coordinated to produce the most sophisticated communication system in the animal kingdom? The book aims to answer these questions and open up the fascinating world of evolutionary linguistics. It is not only aimed at scholars of linguistics, but also students from other disciplines (e.g., psychology, anthropology, evolutionary biology and cognitive science) who have an academic interest in language but may be approaching linguistics for the first time. In addition, the book should appeal to anyone with an interest in the workings of language in general, as well as advanced learners of English.

List of contents

Preface.- 1. Introduction.- 2. The design of language.- 3. The purpose of language.- 4. How the physical environment shaped language.- 5. The influence of society and culture on language.- 6. The role of language change in the evolution of language.- 7. How do we produce and understand speech?.- 8. How do we learn to speak?.- 9. How unique is human language?.- 10. Conclusion: Putting it all together.

About the author

Joanna Dornbierer-Stuart is a language teacher, translator and author based in Switzerland. She is a full member of the Chartered Institute of Linguists. Her previous book, Complete Grammar Guide to Swiss German, was published in 2020.

Summary

This book offers an introduction to the multidisciplinary subject of evolutionary linguistics, which seeks to explain the biological origins of language and its subsequent development in humans. Roughly six million years ago, a branch of hominids from the forests of East Africa started to thrive in the drier environment created by the East African Rift System. A host of physical developments culminated in the brains of early humans increasing dramatically in size and cognitive power. Influenced by a unique and complex social organisation, communication signals became much more diverse and dependent on memory and learning mechanisms. But language is not only used to interact with our fellow beings. It is also closely connected to our thoughts. This makes language a biological, social, cultural and cognitive phenomenon all at once. What precise role did each of these aspects play in the emergence of language and how were they all coordinated to produce the most sophisticated communication system in the animal kingdom? The book aims to answer these questions and open up the fascinating world of evolutionary linguistics. It is not only aimed at scholars of linguistics, but also students from other disciplines (e.g., psychology, anthropology, evolutionary biology and cognitive science) who have an academic interest in language but may be approaching linguistics for the first time. In addition, the book should appeal to anyone with an interest in the workings of language in general, as well as advanced learners of English.

Product details

Authors Joanna Dornbierer-Stuart
Publisher Springer, Berlin
 
Languages English
Product format Paperback / Softback
Released 29.07.2024
 
EAN 9783031549373
ISBN 978-3-0-3154937-3
No. of pages 188
Dimensions 155 mm x 11 mm x 235 mm
Weight 324 g
Illustrations XIX, 188 p. 23 illus., 2 illus. in color.
Subjects Humanities, art, music > Linguistics and literary studies > General and comparative linguistics

Anthropologie, Sprachwissenschaft, Linguistik, Archäologie, Kognitive Psychologie, Cognition, Archaeology, Applied Linguistics, Psycholinguistics and Cognitive Lingusitics, Evolutionary anthropology, Language Change, Biolinguistics, Language and cognition, Origin of language, Cultural evolution of language, Evolution of language, Evolutionary linguistics

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