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Language in Nature: On the Evolutionary Roots of a Cultural Phenomenon

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Book cover The Language Phenomenon

Part of the book series: The Frontiers Collection ((FRONTCOLL))

Abstract

What could an evolutionary explanation for language look like? Here I review relevant evidence from linguistics, comparative biology, evolutionary theory and the fossil record, which suggest vocal imitation and hierarchical compositionality as the essential and uniquely human biological foundations of language. I also outline a plausible scenario for how human language evolved, and propose that language preceded, and facilitated the development of, other cognitive domains such as reasoning, the ability to plan, and consciousness.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Logic, Language and Computation, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    Willem Zuidema

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  1. Willem Zuidema
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Correspondence to Willem Zuidema .

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  1. Natural Sciences Divison, University of Hawaii, W. Kawili Street 200, Hilo, 96720-4091, Hawaii, USA

    P.-M. Binder

  2. Division of Psychology, Cognition & Communication Research Ctr., Northumbria University, Northumerland Road, Newcastle, NE1 8ST, United Kingdom

    K. Smith

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Zuidema, W. (2013). Language in Nature: On the Evolutionary Roots of a Cultural Phenomenon. In: Binder, PM., Smith, K. (eds) The Language Phenomenon. The Frontiers Collection. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-36086-2_8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-36086-2_8

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