How Language Began
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as crucial to languages 9, 204, 230, 237
the gesture continuum 234, 235
homesigns 229, 244–5, 247–8
and Homo erectus languages 62, 239
integration with grammar 7
and language interpretation 5, 199, 201, 203*, 212
and language origins 234, 236
language-slotted gestures 235, 241–2
in oratory 233
as preceding speech 234, 240*, 241–2
as replacing speech 231
scope and types 234
sign languages as stabilised gestures 241–3
spontaneous emergence 229
synchrony with speech 236, 238–9, 241`
Gibson, Edward 164
gifts and reciprocity 264
Gil, David 128*
glaciations 53–4
glial cells 132, 144, 158
glottalised sounds 178–80, 183
glottis in speech production 178–9
glottochronology 272
Goldin-Meadow, Susan 229, 243*, 244–5
Goldstein, Kurt xv
Goodall, Jane 37
gorillas 6, 19, 24, 37, 285
Koko 105, 221, 225*
Gould, Stephen Jay 70
Grabowski, Mark 127
grammar
alternative strategies 215, 218, 225–6
complex grammars as unnecessary 10, 16, 66, 69
filtering meaning 61–2
necessarily preceded by symbols 83
not central to language 105
not exclusive to humans 83
probable origin 213, 219, 240
in sign progression theory 7
view of language as 68–9
Grammar Came First hypothesis 78–80
Grammar Came Last hypothesis 77–8
Grammar Came Later hypothesis 79
grammars
Chomsky’s classification 218
complexity levels (G1-G3) 18, 149, 292
hierarchical grammars 80, 105
known to native speakers 78
similarities between languages 83
slots and fillers 204
universal grammar idea 6, 202, 205*
vertical and horizontal organisation 203–4, 204, 206
grammars of society 284–5
Grandlin, Temple 76
great apes
cognition and communication 42
as hominids 6, 26
see also chimpanzees; gorillas; orang-utans
‘great leap forward’ theory 112
Great Rift Valley 36–7, 57*
Greek language 219–20
Greenberg, Joseph 271
Grice, Paul 251–4, 256, 260, 262, 290
Griffin, Richard 165
grooming behaviour 169
group identification
and ‘dark matter’ 287–9
and language evolution 210
social groups 210
growth points 236, 237
gut length 38, 40, 120
H
Hale, Sheila (and John) 163*
hand movements 152, 229, 232, 235, 238, 240
see also gestures
harmonic frequencies/formants 184–7
Harris, Marvin 288
Harris, Zellig 227
Hauser, Marc 152–3, 224*
Hebrew language 7, 217
Herculano-Houzel, Suzana 126
heritability of SLI 162–3
hierarchical grammars 80, 105, 207, 218
hierarchical knowledge structures 283
hierarchies
in homesigning 245
phonological 210–11, 212
in phrase structures 246
of sonority 205*
in syllable structures 209
hieroglyphic writing 100, 103
highlighting techniques 7, 199, 203, 212–13, 229, 232–3, 235–40
Hinduism 288
hippocampus 156
histones 22*, 28, 140
historical linguistics 271–3
Hixkaryana language 219
‘Hobbits’ (Homo floresiensis) 129–30
Hockett, Charles 204
Holloway, Fred 114–16
Holloway, Ralph 158
holophrastic utterances 211–12, 227, 239–40
homesigns 229, 244–5, 247–8
hominids
distinguished from hominins 6, 25–6
Pleistocene evolution 54
hominin species 5, 41
hominins
brain development 111–12, 114–16
brain volumes 38, 46, 115
distinguished from hominids 6, 26
evolution 37–8, 42
Homo erectus
brain volume 116, 118, 130
cognitive abilities 60–1, 72, 114, 118, 130
compared to H. sapiens 116
cooking and diet 40, 51, 56
culture, as evidence for language 4
culture, evidence of 56, 60, 290
and the Erfoud manuport 91, 92, 99
invention and use of symbols 60, 62, 106, 149
larynx type and hyoid bone 186–7
likely appearance 53
likely social roles 285–6
likely speech ability 186–8, 258
migration out of Africa 30, 48–9, 52, 57–8, 72
possible vestiges of language 202
probable possession of language xv, 10, 54, 60–1, 64, 106, 187, 225, 292
seafaring skills 59–60, 118
shell-carvings 86, 94–5, 95
tool use and technology 54, 59, 96–8, 118
uniqueness in its time 48–9, 52
use of gestures 62, 239
villages and settlements 56–7, 61, 63
Homo ergaster 19, 53–4
Homo floresiensis (‘Hobbits’) 129–30
Homo genus
brain sizes 46
interpretation abilities 256
language as distinct to 18, 50, 225
migrations 48–9
Old World origins 25, 63
species compared xvi, 53, 114
Homo habilis 19, 22, 24, 37, 53, 96
Homo heidelbergensis 53, 92, 94, 112
Homo neanderthalensis
brain case volumes 38
hyoid bone 117
origins 112
possession of language 149, 152, 207–8, 225
Homo rudolfensis 53
Homo sapiens
brain size 111–12
debt to Homo erectus 292
migration from Africa 46, 111, 113, 271
reproductive peculiarities 114
structure-dependent rules 228
success and ubiquity 15, 112
see also anatomically modern humans
homophones 75
horizontal organisation
grammars 203–4
syllables 206
horseflies 44
The Human Advantage…, by Suzana Herculano-Houzel 126
human body, absence of language specific organs 88
human origins 6, 35, 46–7
The Human Vocal Tract…, by Edmund S. Crelin 176*
Hume, David 20–1
hunter-gatherer groups
as anarchic 113
discussion 51
obligation to migrate 48–9
possession of language 9
relevance to Homo erectus 64, 286
hyoid bone 117, 186–7
I
I-languages 76
Ice Ages 53–4
iconic art 86, 90, 99
icons
and language evolution 91
preceding symbols 7, 65, 90, 100–1, 103
in sign progression theory 7, 16, 86–7
use by other animals 225
illocutionary acts/effects 257–8
imagination, appearance of 50, 60
imitation as a cultural force 281
implicatures, conversational 252, 254, 260
indefinite article, indi
cating new knowledge 288
‘independent assortment’ principle 27
indexes
and cultural identification 277
as natural signs 16, 84–5
preceding icons 7, 16*, 65
in sign progression theory 6–7, 16, 84
use by other animals 225
‘indexical’ markers 87, 102
Indians, North American see Native Americans
indirect speech acts 258, 265
Indo-European language 271–2
Indonesia 48–9, 58–61, 63, 128–30
Riau language 105, 151*, 221–2
infants, ability to feed and breathe 191
‘infinite semiosis’ 104
inflectional languages 216
the information age’ 197
information quantity 253–4
information structure, shared and new knowledge 201, 246
information transfer rate 208
Ingram, John 128
ingressive sounds 177, 180
innateness claims 83, 130, 136, 139, 141, 160–1, 243, 248
innovation
rate of 120
as a social pressure 281
spread of 213
‘innovation gap’ 98
instinct v, xv, 83, 106, 121, 141, 244, 289
intelligence
attempted localisation in the brain 154
and brain size 129–30
and cooperation 131
language dependence on 42, 111
and social complexity 130–1
intentionality
absent from indexes 84–5
behind manuports 90–1
gestures 230
as a language prerequisite 86, 240–1, 277
in symbol development 83–4, 103
tool making and shell carving 93–5
The International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) 179, 180
interpretants
as the crucial part of a symbol 18, 88
as themselves symbols 104
in tool use 93
intonation
essential to language 204, 239
highlighting new information 229–30
integration with grammar 7
and language interpretation xvii, 5, 33, 62, 117, 176, 184, 192–3, 201
and pitch control 184
production by the larynx 176
invention
role in language evolution 18, 171
speech as 176
IPA (The International Phonetic Alphabet) 179, 180
isolating languages 215, 217
Italian use of gestures 232–3
J
Jackendoff, Ray 151*
Jaeger, Andreas 270
Java shell-carvings 86, 94–5, 95
Jewish use of gestures 232–3
John, gospel of 1
Jones, Sir William 269–72
Just, Marcel Adam 122*
K
Karlsson, Fred 222–3
Kashafrud site, Iran 63
Keller, Helen 244
Keller, Timothy A. 122*
Kendon, Adam 234
Kern, Barbara 151*
Kimura, Motoo 47
The Kingdom of Speech, by Tom Wolfe 172
kinship relationships 101–3, 133, 286
knives, backed 59
knowledge structures
built by language 15–16
static and dynamic knowledge 230
Koko the gorilla 105, 221, 225*
L
language
conduit metaphor 260–3, 261
held to result from a specific mutation 6, 45, 68, 70–1, 80, 148–9
memory types required for 154–6
as a nexus 69
possession by Homo erectus 5–6, 60–2, 64, 106
as a tool 287
languages
classified by word formation 217
components and purpose of 15, 105
contrasted with animal communication 7
as a creation of culture xvii–xviii, 179, 279
diversity of present-day languages 9
as a driver of culture 112
as a driver of intelligence 132
holistic interpretation 66–7, 230, 233, 239–40
I-languages and E-languages 76
number of sounds and languages 189
preceding speech 173–4
protolanguages distinguished 61–3, 165*, 224–5
reductionist theories 68, 201
simple language examples 61, 65–6, 221, 256
see also G1 etc; grammars; origins of language; sign languages
Language: The Cultural Tool, by Dan Everett 139*, 177–8, 224*
language deficits and disorders 121–2, 159, 171
language evolution
absence of specialised brain regions 82
archaeological evidence 18, 72
Chomsky’s views analysed 226–7
colonial era influence 269
conversation as its apex 262
cooperative principle 256
dependence on individual cultures 202, 273
dependence on intelligence 42
dependence on prelinguistic cognition 45
environmental constraints 211
and group identification 210
platforms for 43
role of biology 88
role of Proto-Indo-European 270
‘satisficing’ principle 249
and tool use 73, 95–9, 118
utility explains ubiquity 242
‘language gap’ 7–8, 194
‘language gene’ idea 80, 103–4
language-slotted gestures 235, 241–2
language specific organs 88, 139, 152
Larick, Roy 57*
larynges
descended 38
Homo erectus and H. neanderthalensis 186
origin 192
in speech production 174–8, 184
structure 177
Leakey, Louis and family 37, 54
left hemisphere 116, 139, 143–4, 164
legal process 259
Levallois tools 56, 98, 100
Levinson, Stephen C. 104
lexicostatistics 272
Liberman, Mark 153
Lieberman, Philip v, 135, 173, 190, 193, 207
life histories, Homo genus 114
linear grammars 218–19, 221–2
linguistics
branches of 15
comparative and historical linguistics 269, 271–3
localisation of intelligence and memory 154, 156
locomotion 37–9
locutionary acts/effects 257–8
long-term memory 154–6
see also declarative memory
loudness variations 197–9, 205
Lubbock, John 36
lunate sulcus 114–15
Lutz, Robert 43
Luuk, Erkki and Hendrik 218*
Lyell, Charles 70
M
Macoir, Joël 160
Makapansgat manuport/pebble 86, 90, 91, 99
Making it Explicit, by Robert Brandom 123*
The Man Who Lost His Language, by Sheila Hale 163*
management culture 283
manifest destiny 277, 289
manner, maxim of 252, 254
manual-visual communication 189
manuports 86, 90–1, 91–2, 99
see also art
Marajoara culture 72
Margulies, Julianna 229
material culture and evidence for language 8
mating access 39, 41, 56
maxims, cooperative principle 252–5, 290
McCarthy, John 287
McNeill, David 234, 236–40, 242
meaning, filtered by culture and grammar 61–2
meat eating 40, 51, 120
meiosis 27*
memory
grammar as an aid 219
impairment in language disorders 162–3
types required for
language 154–6
memory–expression tensions 207
Mendel, Gregor 26–7
Merge concept 80*, 85*, 91, 150–1, 162, 224*, 227*
Mexico 178
mid-sagittal crest 38, 40
migration
Homo erectus out of Africa 30, 48, 56–58, 72, 98
Homo sapiens out of Africa 46, 111, 113, 271
Miller, George A. 154–5
Millikan, Ruth 290
mime 234–5, 241
mind, theory of 43, 46, 168
mind-body dualism 157–8, 287
mitochondrial DNA/Mitochondrial Eve 46–7
modes, of pronunciation 180
molecular biology and human origins 35
molecular clocks 28, 47
monkeys, experiments with 122, 152, 173–4
monogamy (pair-bonding) 39, 56
moods, in English 253
Morgan, Thomas 27, 34, 95
morphemes 214, 215–16, 217
morphology
as a branch of linguistics 15, 105, 215
and SLI 161
morphosyntactic hierarchy 213, 214
Morse code 16, 189–90
Morwood, Michael 128
motor aphasia 164
motor-related activities 118, 135, 138, 140, 155, 162, 194
Mousterian tools 62
multiregional hypothesis 46–7
murder trial example 13–14
muscle movement, in speech production 174–5, 181, 192–3
mutations
and the appearance of language 6, 45, 68, 70–1, 80, 148–9
and the molecular clock 28, 47
neutral variations 28, 30, 33, 47
possible results 28, 47
‘syntax mutation’ example 31–3
N
nasopharyngeal passage 191
Native Americans 84, 95, 216, 274–5, 277–80, 286
natural conversation
and learning a language 162
as a resource 1, 3, 15
natural selection
for complex thinking 33
Darwinian postulates 26
in languages 273
phenotypes as target 27, 30
natural signs, indexes as 16
navigational abilities
in jungles 85
by sea 59–60
Neanderthal Man see Homo neanderthalensis
neurodiversity 121, 166
neuroimmune system 132, 144
neurological disorders 121
neuronal density/neuron numbers 126, 143–4, 158
Neurophilosophy, by Patricia Churchland 142
neuroplasticity 118, 122, 139
new knowledge
gestures highlighting 229–30
signalling 201, 211, 288
the ‘new synthesis’ 35*
New York Times 232, 250–1
New Zealand 63
Nicaraguan Sign Language 243
niche construction theory 170–1
Nin, Anaïs 48
nonconcatenative languages 216, 217
North American indigenous peoples see Native Americans
noses, in primate classification 25
noun phrases 215, 248
O
object, position in sentences 247
objects, children’s perception 244–5
obsessive-compulsive disorder 193