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Language is shaped for social interactions, as well as by the brain

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 October 2008

Mikkel Wallentin  and
Chris D. Frith
Mikkel Wallentin
Affiliation:
Center for Functionally Integrative Neuroscience, Aarhus University Hospital, Nørrebrogade, Denmarkmikkel@pet.auh.dkhttp://www.mikkelwallentin.dk/
Chris D. Frith
Affiliation:
Center for Functionally Integrative Neuroscience, Aarhus University Hospital, Nørrebrogade, Denmarkmikkel@pet.auh.dkhttp://www.mikkelwallentin.dk/ Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging, University College London, London, WCIN 3BG, United Kingdom. cfrith@fil.ion.ucl.ac.ukhttp://www.fil.ion.ucl.ac.uk/Frith/
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Abstract

Language learning is not primarily driven by a motivation to describe invariant features of the world, but rather by a strong force to be a part of the social group, which by definition is not invariant. It is not sufficient for language to be fit for the speaker's perceptual motor system. It must also be fit for social interactions.

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 31 , Issue 5 , October 2008 , pp. 536 - 537
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2008

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