oldest example 100
Venus of Berekhat Ram 86, 99–100, 101
artefacts, contextualising 56
articulators and points of articulation 207–8
articulatory phonetics 176, 182–3
ASD (autistic spectrum disorder) 43, 121, 165–71
Aspects of the Theory of Syntax, by Noam Chomsky 150*
aspiration in speech 208–9
attachment theory 170–1
auditory phonetics 176, 186
auditory systems co-evolution with vocal apparatus 176–7, 183, 186, 208, 214
aural-oral communication 189
Austin, John 256–7, 262
Australia 63, 239
Australopithecines
brain sizes 38, 46, 115, 127
as Homo erectus ancestors 52
possible tool use 54, 96
possible use of icons 90
Australopithecus afarensis 6, 115, 187
Australopithecus africanus 90, 115
autistic spectrum disorder (ASD) 43, 121, 165–71
B
Babel, tower of 291
‘bad,’ example syllable 205
Baldwin effect (James Mark Baldwin) 30–1, 33–4, 125, 187
Banawá people 1–4, 8, 87–8, 251
Sabatão and Bidu 1–4
basal ganglia 118, 134–5, 144, 162, 181–2, 193–4
Bates, Elizabeth 147
Bednarik, Robert 59
belief systems as cultural 287
Berekhat Ram Venus 86, 99–100, 101
Berwick, Robert 80*, 226
Beyond Words: What Animals Think and Feel, by Carl Safina 225
bias, in interpretation 255
Biblical quotations 1, 13, 291
Bickerton, Derek 165*
Bidu, of the Banawá people 1–4
bilabial sounds 180, 189
bipedalism 37–9
‘the bird’ sign 234–5
birdsong 139*
birth difficulties and brain size 125
Bizat Ruhama 63
blind people 31, 40, 238–9
Bloomfield, Leonard 227
Boas, Franz 125, 232, 280
bodily form and culture 280
bodily involvement
in animal communication 240–1
in human communication 199, 230, 233
in sign language 235–6
bodily organs
absence of language specific 88, 139, 152
attributed functions 156
body hair, loss 38, 41
body size and brain size 127–8
Bolhuis, Johan 139*
bones, consumption of 51
bonobos 6, 24, 31, 42
brains
anatomical views 145–6
computer analogies 121, 123, 159, 287
cytoarchitecture 129–30, 132, 136–7, 147–8, 148, 151, 158
energy requirements 124–5
integrated embodiment 159
localisation and phrenology 154
neuronal density 126, 144, 158
white matter 122, 132, 140, 143, 158
brain development
ceasing with H. sapiens 111–13, 119–20
cerebral asymmetry 115–16, 143
and culture 121, 125–6, 140–1
and diet 40, 124
hominins 111–12, 114–16, 126–7
and learning 136, 159
and tool use 99
brain function
localisation and phrenology 154, 156
neuroscepticism 134, 142–3
brain regions
for activity coordination 138
basal ganglia 118, 134–5, 144, 162, 181–2, 193–4
Broca’s area 116, 134, 136–40, 162, 164
Brodmann classification 148, 150
cerebellum 135, 144, 147
cerebral cortex 115–16, 143–4, 194
detailed structure and anatomical views 144, 145–6
frontal cortex 115, 156
functional language system 135, 138
glial cells 132, 144, 158
localisation of intelligence and memory 154, 156
lunate sulcus 114–15
posterior association cortex 115
prefrontal cortex 82, 96
repurposing potential 40, 82, 134, 138, 152
shared with other animals 144
specialised for language 82, 89, 130, 134–6, 171
Wernicke’s area 134, 139, 164
brain sizes
hominins 38, 46, 115–16, 118, 129–30
number of neurons 143
relation to body sizes 127–8
relation to intelligence 129, 132
sex differences 132
Brandom, Robert 123*
Brazil xv, 39, 66, 87, 101, 280, 281*
see also Amazonia
breast size 131
breath groups 211
breathing control, for human speech 193
breathing while running 39*
Broca’s aphasia 164
Broca’s area 116, 134, 136–40, 162, 164
Brodmann Area 44 (BA 44) 150–2, 193
Brodmann classification (Korbinian Brodmann) 148, 150
Brown, Peter 128
Bulwer, John 233
C
California, Southern, dialect 181, 182, 281
Cann, Rebecca L. 46
Cartesian Linguistics, by Noam Chomsky 157
case, use of 220
‘cat,’ pronunciation example 181–2, 205
catastrophism 70
catchment concept 236–7
cavemen 52, 290
centre-embedding 222–3
the cerebellum 135, 144, 147
cerebral asymmetry 115–16, 143
see also left hemisphere; right hemisphere
cerebral cortex 143–4, 194
‘Chestnut tree’ game 231, 235
children
adoption of symbols 244
delayed maturity 125
effect of raising together 282
chimpanzees
brain volumes 46
breathing and vocalisation 191, 193
field research on 37
locomotion 38
mental capacities 46, 54, 130, 193
relationship to other primates 6, 24, 26, 35, 41–2, 42, 114, 130
tool use 54–5, 73
chin, development 38
China 48–9, 52, 57*, 63
Chinese tenses 215
Chinese writing system 100
Chirologia: or the Naturall Language of the Hand, by John Bulwer 233
choking hazard 176, 181, 191
Chomsky, Noam
catastrophism 70
influence of 37, 218, 226
influences on 157, 226–7
language as grammar 68–9, 226
Merge concept 80*, 85*, 91, 150–1, 162, 224*, 227*
chromosomes 22, 27
chunking
absent in linear grammars 105
as a memory aid 155
phonemes into syllables 205–6
usefulness for communication 211
word order and 219
words into phrases 78, 200, 210
Churchland, Patricia 142
Churchland, Paul 45
Cicero, Marcus Tullius 233
Ciochon, Russell L. 57*
circumfixes 216
clades see phylogenetic trees
Clark, Andy 121
clauses
relative 215
subordinate and matrix 223
click languages 178–80, 183
climate change 53–4
co-evolution
auditory systems with vocal apparatus 176–7, 183, 186, 208, 214
of gestures with speech 241
Coeurdoux, Gason-Laurent 270
cognitive capacity
absence of consensus on limits 14
Homo erectus 50
of other animals 44–5
cognitive complexi
ty and culture 55, 112–13, 290
cognitive plasticity 118, 122
cognitive revolution 106, 113, 154, 226
colonial era 269
colour, use in art 59
colour-blindness 29
colour recognition and culture 16
‘Colourless green ideas sleep furiously’ 274
combinatoriality 78, 118
see also chunking
communication
and ASD 167
cooperative principle in 252–4, 256, 260, 262, 274
failures between cultures 274–5, 277–8, 286
inference in 43
narrowing solution space 200
as the primary function of language 74–5, 213–14, 236
required for toolmaking 96, 98–9
and sexual selection 106
speeds achievable using speech 190
as unconnected to language 226
see also animal communication
communication-language threshold 50, 202
comparative linguistics 269, 271
complex grammars as unnecessary 10, 16, 66, 69, 82
complex sentences
featuring recursion 33
as unnecessary 31, 73–4, 118–19, 221
complex syllabic structures 190
complex thinking
natural selection for 33–4
sentences as unnecessary 32
complexity of language 201, 207
compositionality 8, 17, 84, 203*, 213, 218*, 221
computation, language claimed to be 227
computers
brains compared to 121, 123, 159, 287
and language limitations 188
concepts
learned, not inborn 123, 136
requiring symbols 103
conduit metaphor 260–3, 261
‘confirmation bias’ 23, 150
‘conscious consciousness’ 50
consonants
airflow characteristics 208–9
dentition and 41
glottalised 178
in the IPA 179–81
minimum requirement 89, 174, 187
nonconcatenative systems 216, 217
phoneme patterns 190
sonority 205–6
sounding ‘b’ and ‘p’ 188–9
in speech production 174
context
contextualising artefacts. 56
and language interpretation 5, 75, 165, 171, 260
‘contours’ 211
‘contraexpectation’ term 265
conventionality of symbols 83–4, 84–5*
conversational analysis
as a branch of linguistics 15
interpretation involving culture 224, 263–4
conversational implicatures 252, 254, 260
cooking and brain development 40, 120
cooperation and intelligence 131
cooperative principle in communication 252–4, 256, 260, 262, 274
Crelin, Edmund S. 176, 186
Culicover, Peter 151*
cultural conservatism 97
cultural evolution 6, 112, 120, 124, 173
cultural knowledge
and ASD 169–70
and comprehension 201
see also tacit knowledge
cultural relativism 282
cultural selection 96
culture
as the context of speech 165, 171, 210, 260
as cultivated 280
defining 67–8, 273, 275
effects on evolution 30, 67, 119–20
filtering meaning 61–2, 200, 250–2, 254
the first cultural revolution 54
generational differences 276
Homo sapiens, and language skills 112
and human brain development 121, 125–6, 132, 140–1
implied by tool use 54–5, 60, 92
as a language platform 43
status derived from 102
tacit knowledge as essential 290
cultures
attributing function to bodily organs 156
misunderstandings between 274–5, 277–8, 286
queueing 290
specific knowledge structures 15–16, 279
cytoarchitecture 129–30, 132, 136–7, 147–8, 148, 151, 158
D
‘dark matter’
art and 92
ASD and 168
and comprehension 201
and cultural misunderstandings 278
gestures and 229–30, 234
group identity and 287–9
in other animals 289
overlapping 288–9
underdetermined content as 4, 50–1
see also tacit knowledge
Dark Matter of the Mind: The Culturally Articulated Unconscious, by Daniel Everett xv, 85*, 124*, 139*, 205*
Darwin, Charles
basic postulates 26
The Descent of Man 6
Origin of Species 270
suggested African origins of humans 6, 35, 36
Davidson, Donald 224
De Waal, Frans 76
declarative memory 155–6, 230
episodic memory 156, 243, 277, 289
defecation rules 288
definite article, indicating shared knowledge 201, 288
delayed auditory feedback 238
Dennett, Daniel C. 165
dental arcade, shape 38, 41
Descartes, René 44–5, 157, 287
The Descent of Man, by Charles Darwin 6
‘dexterity gene’ example 30
dialects 281
diet
fatty acids and brain development 124
meat eating 40, 51, 120
displacement criterion 92–3, 102–3
DNA
mitochondrial DNA 46
resistance to studies 281*
species differences and 22
Dobzhansky, Theodosius 34–5
‘dog’ as an arbitrary symbol 6, 85
Donadio, Rachel 232
doubt, in science and legal cases 14
driving cars, assumptions 249–50
dual inheritance theory see Baldwin effect
dualism, Cartesian 157, 287
duality of patterning 17, 18, 84, 203–7, 204, 209, 215, 225, 292
Dunbar, Robin 130–1
Dursunlu site, Turkey 63
E
E-languages 76
eating while breathing 176, 191
eating while vocalising 181
EEG (electroencephalogram) studies 143
Efron, David 232–4
Egan, Timothy 250
egressive sounds 177, 180, 189
Eldredge, Niles 70
embedding levels 153, 218*, 222–3
‘emic’ knowledge 85, 202–3, 209
emojis 86
encapsulated module claim 141–2, 149–50, 160
encephalisation 38, 116, 126–7, 130
Encephalisation Quotient (EQ) 125
English language
as a G3 language 106*, 224
origins 273
possible verb forms 215
reliance on pulmonic sounds 177
syllabic structures 190, 206
use of case 220
use of moods 253
variations 76–7
environment
constraints on sound structures 211
effect on evolution 30, 67
effect on Homo erectus cultures 283
epiglottis 176, 181, 191
episodic memory 156, 243, 277, 289
EQ (Encephalisation Quotient) 125
equiprimordiality 239
Erfoud manuport 86, 91, 92, 99
Erq al-Ahmar site 57*, 63
‘etic’ knowledge 202–3
eugenics 120
Everaert, Martin 139*
evidence, absence of (arguments) 71–3, 149
evolution (biological)
and animal cognition 45
co-evolution of vocal
and auditory systems 176–7, 183, 186, 208, 214
cultural effects and 30, 67, 119–20
extended evolutionary synthesis 67
of the larynx 192
of mammals 25
micro- and macroevolution 28–9, 34
modern status 21
phenotypes as target 27
physiological changes 38–40, 54, 56
during the Pleistocene 52–4
population genetics 34–5
saltation models 70–1, 148, 228
skeletal 37–8
see also language evolution
exaptation 82, 88–9
Ezekiel, Book of 13
F
Falk, Dean 128
fatherhood 275–6
fatty acids and brain development 124
Fedorenko, Evelina 141
Ferrein, Antoine 192
Feynman, Richard 23
fillers, in grammars 204–6, 285
fire, control of, and cooking 40, 51, 56, 62, 120, 129
Fisher, Ronald 35*
Fitch, Tecumseh 152–3, 173–4, 186, 224*
Flores, Indonesia 58–61, 128–30
Fodor, Jerry 141
football 273–4
foramen magnum 38, 158
form and meaning, linkages 17
formants 184–7
Fossey, Dian 37
fossil evidence
brain evolution 127
changing interpretations 23
earliest hominin 36, 41, 48–9
Homo erectus sites 57*, 63
founding populations 29–30, 59, 80
FOXP2 gene 104, 117–18, 194
Franklin, Benjamin 269
fricative modes 180
Friederici, Angela 149–53
frontal cortex 115, 156
Fuentes, Agustin 67
functional brain imaging 137, 143
functional language system 135, 138
fundamental frequencies 184–5
fusional languages 217
G
G1 languages
likely possession by Homo erectus 61, 63, 99, 225
linear grammars as sufficient 222, 292
in the semiotic progression 17, 223
G2 languages
as hierarchical but not recursive 222, 292
in the semiotic progression 17
G3 languages
in the semiotic progression 17, 292
status of English 106*, 224
Galdikas, Birutè 37
Gê language 101
gender differences in speech 86
genera, defined 25
Genesis, Book of 291
genetic diversity
population bottlenecks 29
of subpopulations 34
genetic drift 29, 34–5, 47, 273
genetics
‘language gene’ idea 80, 103–4, 243
Mendel’s work 26–7
microgenetics 135
see also origins of language
genomes, organisation 22
geographical separation 273
geological instabilities 57
German language 216, 247, 272–3
Gesher Benot Ya’aqov 56, 62–3, 81
gesticulation 230, 234–5, 239
gesture-slotted speech 242
gestures
co-evolution with speech 241
contribution to conversation 229
How Language Began Page 36