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25 - The fossils of language: What are they? Who has them? How did they evolve?

from Part III - Language evolution

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 May 2013

By
Sergio Balari ,
Antonio Benítez-Burraco ,
Víctor M. Longa  and
Guillermo Lorenzo
Edited by
Cedric Boeckx  and
Kleanthes K. Grohmann
Cedric Boeckx
Affiliation:
The Catalan Institute for Advanced Studies
Kleanthes K. Grohmann
Affiliation:
University of Cyprus
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Summary

This chapter shows that a reasonable picture about when and how language evolved can be attained by putting together: the archaeological record and the cognitive capabilities underlying it; cranial fossils and some independently motivated principles governing the organization of brains; and some recently accessible data regarding the evolutionary history of some human DNA sequences. The chapter discusses the analysis of fossil remains that have been classified in relation with hominid articulatory and auditory abilities. It argues that independently established principles concerning the reorganization of brain structure as a function of its development constitute a key piece in order to elucidate the evolutionary origins of language. The chapter deals with the recent findings concerning both the evolutionary history of certain genomic sequences and the general evolutionary pattern of DNA fragments directly related with the development of the human central nervous system.

Keywords

cognitive systemsdescent-with-modification modularitylanguage modulesui generis modularityphylogenetic continuitylinguistic system
Type
Chapter
Information
The Cambridge Handbook of Biolinguistics , pp. 489 - 523
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2013

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