Syntax is arguably the most human-specific aspect of language. Despite the proto-linguistic capacities of some animals, syntax appears to be the last major evolutionary transition in humans that has some genetic basis. Yet what are the elements to a scenario that can explain such a transition? In this book, experts from linguistics, neurology and neurobiology, cognitive psychology, ecology and evolutionary biology, and computer modeling address this question. Unlike most previous work on the evolution of language, Biological Foundations and Origin of Syntax follows through on a growing consensus among researchers that language can be profitably separated into a number of related and interacting but largely autonomous functions, each of which may have a distinguishable evolutionary history and neurological base. The contributors argue that syntax is such a function. The book describes the current state of research on syntax in different fields, with special emphasis on areas in which the findings of particular disciplines might shed light on problems faced by other disciplines. It defines areas where consensus has been established with regard to the nature, infrastructure, and evolution of the syntax of natural languages; summarizes and evaluates contrasting approaches in areas that remain controversial; and suggests lines for future research to resolve at least some of these disputed issues. Strüngmann Forum Reports
Author(s): Derek Bickerton, Eörs Szathmáry
Series: Strungmann Forum reports
Publisher: MIT Press
Year: 2009
Language: English
Pages: 491
City: Cambridge, Mass
Contents......Page 6
The Ernst Strüngmann Forum......Page 8
List of Contributors......Page 10
Preface......Page 14
Background......Page 20
1 Syntax for Non-syntacticians......Page 22
2 The Biological Background of Syntax Evolution......Page 34
3 Functional Neuroimaging and the Logic of Brain Operations......Page 60
Syntactics......Page 80
4 Some Elements of Syntactic Computations......Page 82
5 The Adaptive Approach to Grammar......Page 108
6 Fundamental Syntactic Phenomena and Their Putative Relation to the Brain......Page 136
7 What Kinds of Syntactic Phenomena Must Biologists, Neurobiologists, and Computer Scientists Try to Explain and Replicate?......Page 154
Evolution......Page 178
8 Possible Precursors of Syntactic Components in Other Species......Page 180
9 What Can Developmental Language Impairment Tell Us about the Genetic Bases of Syntax?......Page 204
10 What Are the Possible Biological and Genetic Foundations for Syntactic Phenomena?......Page 226
Brain......Page 256
11 Brain Circuits of Syntax......Page 258
12 Neural Organization for Syntactic Processing as Determined by Effects of Lesions......Page 272
13 Reflections on the Neurobiology of Syntax......Page 298
14 What Are the Brain Mechanisms Underlying Syntactic Operations?......Page 318
Modeling......Page 342
15 Syntax as an Adaptation to the Learner......Page 344
16 Cognition and Social Dynamics Play a Major Role in the Formation of Grammar......Page 364
17 What Can Formal or Computational Models Tell Us about How (Much) Language Shaped the Brain?......Page 388
18 What Can Mathematical, Computational, and Robotic Models Tell Us about the Origins of Syntax?......Page 404
Glossary......Page 430
Bibliography......Page 436
Subject Index......Page 484
