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Another far more ancient tongue

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Commentary onOunbarR. I. M. (1993) Coevolution of neocortical size, group size and language in humans. BBS 16:681–735.

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 February 2010

John Bradshaw
John Bradshaw
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria 3168, Australia. john.l.bradshaw@sci.monash.edu.au
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Abstract

Language started evolving early, before gesture; commonalities of generativity between language and praxis have been over-emphasized. Language did not drive hominid brain evolution, evolving multifactorially and interactively. More than communication, it permits a cognitive modelling of reality and hierarchical data management. As the interactive sum of various cognitive and linguistic systems, and of brain structures each semi-independently evolved, it is not part of a single, general-purpose cognitive processor, nor is it a separately-evolved quasi-independent module.

Type
Continuing Commentary
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 18 , Issue 2 , June 1995 , pp. 385 - 386
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1995

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