Definition
The term Protosyntax refers in cognitive science to a precursor stage of the human capacity for modern languages. It includes linear phrases with primarily uninflected nouns and verbs.
Introduction
The notion Protosyntax, also called protolanguage or linear grammar, is a possible window to our understanding of how the modern language capacity might have evolved from single words to complex syntactic structures. It typically refers to a hypothetical precursor stage in the language domain, but in principle, it can also refer to other cognitive capacities such as the Protosyntax of music. The linguistic notion implies that language evolved gradually in the hominid lineage from basic to more complex syntactic structures. Protosyntax uses a linear order of words, is non-hierarchical organized, and lacks inflectional morphology. For instance, it does not use inflections...
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References
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Hillert, D.G. (2019). Protosyntax. In: Shackelford, T., Weekes-Shackelford, V. (eds) Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_3851-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_3851-2
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Protosyntax- Published:
- 07 March 2019
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_3851-3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_3851-2
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Protosyntax- Published:
- 06 December 2018
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_3851-1