Language And Origin

Author : Morris Swadesh
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 396 pages
File Size : 49,5 Mb
Release : 2017-09-04
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN : 9781351478021

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The Origin and Diversification of Language by Morris Swadesh Pdf

Morris Swadesh, one of this century's foremost scientific investigators of language, dedicated much of his life to the study of the origin and evolution of language. This volume, left nearly completed at his death and edited posthumously by Joel F. Sherzer, is his last major study of this difficult subject.Swadesh discusses the simple qualities of human speech also present in animal language, and establishes distinctively human techniques of expression by comparing the common features that are found in modern and ancient languages. He treats the diversification of language not only by isolating root words in different languages, but also by dealing with sound systems, with forms of composition, and with sentence structure. In so doing, he demonstrates the evidence for the expansion of all language from a single central area. Swadesh supports his hypothesis by ""exhibits"" that conveniently present the evidence in tabular form. Further clarity is provided by the use of a suggestive practical phonetic system, intelligible to the student as well as to the professional.The book also contains an Appendix, in which the distinguished ethnographer of language, Dell Hymes, gives a valuable account of the prewar linguistic tradition within which Swadesh did some of his most important work.

Author : Jacob Grimm
Publisher : Brill Archive
Page : 52 pages
File Size : 43,8 Mb
Release : 1984
Category : Langage et langues
ISBN : 9004070583

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On the Origin of Language by Jacob Grimm Pdf

Author : Géza Révész
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 258 pages
File Size : 46,8 Mb
Release : 1956
Category : Historical linguistics
ISBN : UIUC:30112085200696

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The Origins and Prehistory of Language by Géza Révész Pdf

Author : Robert C. Berwick,Noam Chomsky
Publisher : MIT Press
Page : 229 pages
File Size : 50,7 Mb
Release : 2017-05-12
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN : 9780262533492

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Why Only Us by Robert C. Berwick,Noam Chomsky Pdf

Berwick and Chomsky draw on recent developments in linguistic theory to offer an evolutionary account of language and humans' remarkable, species-specific ability to acquire it. “A loosely connected collection of four essays that will fascinate anyone interested in the extraordinary phenomenon of language.” —New York Review of Books We are born crying, but those cries signal the first stirring of language. Within a year or so, infants master the sound system of their language; a few years after that, they are engaging in conversations. This remarkable, species-specific ability to acquire any human language—“the language faculty”—raises important biological questions about language, including how it has evolved. This book by two distinguished scholars—a computer scientist and a linguist—addresses the enduring question of the evolution of language. Robert Berwick and Noam Chomsky explain that until recently the evolutionary question could not be properly posed, because we did not have a clear idea of how to define “language” and therefore what it was that had evolved. But since the Minimalist Program, developed by Chomsky and others, we know the key ingredients of language and can put together an account of the evolution of human language and what distinguishes us from all other animals. Berwick and Chomsky discuss the biolinguistic perspective on language, which views language as a particular object of the biological world; the computational efficiency of language as a system of thought and understanding; the tension between Darwin's idea of gradual change and our contemporary understanding about evolutionary change and language; and evidence from nonhuman animals, in particular vocal learning in songbirds.

Author : Merritt Ruhlen
Publisher : Stanford University Press
Page : 364 pages
File Size : 40,6 Mb
Release : 1994
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN : 0804728054

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On the Origin of Languages by Merritt Ruhlen Pdf

Arguing that the prevailing conception of historical linguistics is flawed, the author presents a series of linguistic studies which demonstrate that all extant human languages share a common origin.

Author : Merritt Ruhlen
Publisher : Harvard Oriental Series - Opera Minora
Page : 0 pages
File Size : 50,6 Mb
Release : 2023
Category : Human evolution
ISBN : 1463244959

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The Origin of Language by Merritt Ruhlen Pdf

"What can the classification of languages tell us about human origins and human prehistory? This book presents a popular account of the origin of language. It is intended for an audience with no prior knowledge of comparative linguistics, genetics or archaeology. The present volume is a reprint of the 2009 second edition of the book, and includes the text of the first edition (1994) with minor modifications, as well as the scientific evidence for monogenesis, and a Postscript recounting developments in the field since the original publication of the book"--

Author : Merritt Ruhlen
Publisher : Wiley
Page : 258 pages
File Size : 43,8 Mb
Release : 1996-08-15
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN : 0471159638

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The Origin of Language by Merritt Ruhlen Pdf

"Ruhlen is a leader in the new attempt to unify the theory of language development and diffusion."––Library Journal "A powerful statement...also a wonderfully clear exposition of linguistic thinking about prehistory."––Anthropological Science One of the world's foremost language researchers takes readers step-by-step through the hotly contested evidence that all modern languages derive from one "mother tongue" once spoken by primitive humans in Africa. With The Origin of Language, Merritt Ruhlen makes this fascinating science accessible to readers with no linguistic background. MERRITT RUHLEN, PhD (Palo Alto, California) is the author of A Guide to the World's Languages

Author : James R. Hurford
Publisher : Oxford University Press, USA
Page : 182 pages
File Size : 47,6 Mb
Release : 2014-03
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN : 9780198701880

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Origins of Language by James R. Hurford Pdf

This book offers an accessible overview of what is known about the evolution of the human capacity for language and what sets human language apart from the simple communication systems used by non-human animals. It draws on a wide range of disciplines, including philosophy, neuroscience, genetics, and animal behaviour.

Author : Peter L. Patrick,Monika S. Schmid,Karin Zwaan
Publisher : Springer
Page : 274 pages
File Size : 45,8 Mb
Release : 2018-10-24
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN : 9783319790039

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Language Analysis for the Determination of Origin by Peter L. Patrick,Monika S. Schmid,Karin Zwaan Pdf

This comprehensive, up-to-date volume reports on current practices and use of Language Analysis for the Determination of Origin (LADO). Readers will find chapters on how it is done, where it is used, how it is used, and learn about recent developments on the use of LADO reports in judicial practice, and current controversies in the field. LADO is a highly controversial topic, and a relatively new branch of forensic linguistics that is used by most European and some non-European governments. When asylum seekers cannot submit documentary proof of their origin, their language can be analysed in order to assess whether their linguistic profile is in accordance with their stated origin. Around 10,000 such language analyses take place annually. This volume is based on the series of meetings of the Language and Asylum Research Group held between 2010 and 2012 and convened by the editors, and offers a state-of-the art perspective from researchers, practitioners, policymakers and stakeholders working on or with LADO.

Author : Christine Kenneally
Publisher : Penguin
Page : 376 pages
File Size : 46,9 Mb
Release : 2007-07-19
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN : 9781101202395

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The First Word by Christine Kenneally Pdf

An accessible exploration of a burgeoning new field: the incredible evolution of language The first popular book to recount the exciting, very recent developments in tracing the origins of language, The First Word is at the forefront of a controversial, compelling new field. Acclaimed science writer Christine Kenneally explains how a relatively small group of scientists that include Noam Chomsky and Steven Pinker assembled the astounding narrative of how the fundamental process of evolution produced a linguistic ape-in other words, us. Infused with the wonder of discovery, this vital and engrossing book offers us all a better understanding of the story of humankind.

Author : Jean-Jacques Rousseau,Johann Gottfried Herder
Publisher : University of Chicago Press
Page : 187 pages
File Size : 40,9 Mb
Release : 2012-04-26
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN : 9780226923284

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On the Origin of Language by Jean-Jacques Rousseau,Johann Gottfried Herder Pdf

This volume combines Rousseau's essay on the origin of diverse languages with Herder's essay on the genesis of the faculty of speech. Rousseau's essay is important to semiotics and critical theory, as it plays a central role in Jacques Derrida's book Of Grammatology, and both essays are valuable historical and philosophical documents.

Author : Otto Jespersen
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 456 pages
File Size : 43,5 Mb
Release : 1922
Category : Language and languages
ISBN : UCAL:B4016987

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Language by Otto Jespersen Pdf

Author : Peter F. MacNeilage
Publisher : Oxford University Press
Page : 402 pages
File Size : 40,8 Mb
Release : 2010
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN : 9780199581580

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The Origin of Speech by Peter F. MacNeilage Pdf

This book explores the origin and evolution of speech. The human speech system is in a league of its own in the animal kingdom and its possession dwarfs most other evolutionary achievements. During every second of speech we unconsciously use about 225 distinct muscle actions. To investigate the evolutionary origins of this prodigious ability, Peter MacNeilage draws on work in linguistics, cognitive science, evolutionary biology, and animal behavior. He puts forward a neo-Darwinian account of speech as a process of descent in which ancestral vocal capabilities became modified in response to natural selection pressures for more efficient communication. His proposals include the crucial observation that present-day infants learning to produce speech reveal constraints that were acting on our ancestors as they invented new words long ago. This important and original investigation integrates the latest research on modern speech capabilities, their acquisition, and their neurobiology, including the issues surrounding the cerebral hemispheric specialization for speech. Written in a clear style with minimal recourse to jargon the book will interest a wide range of readers in cognitive, neuro-, and evolutionary science, as well as all those seeking to understand the nature and evolution of speech and human communication.

Author : Otto Jespersen
Publisher : DigiCat
Page : 330 pages
File Size : 41,9 Mb
Release : 2022-05-28
Category : Fiction
ISBN : EAN:8596547025528

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Language: Its Nature, Development and Origin by Otto Jespersen Pdf

This book is a classic work of linguistics, created by one of the most prominent scholars, Otto Jaspersen. The linguistic importance of this book is attributed to the fact that it underlines the importance of the role of the speaker in the natural development of the language. The topics presented in this book include the history of linguistics pre and during the 19th century, the development of child language, the role of the speaker on language development, causes for the linguistic change, etymology, and language development.

Author : Robert M. Seyfarth,Dorothy L. Cheney
Publisher : Princeton University Press
Page : 179 pages
File Size : 50,6 Mb
Release : 2017-12-05
Category : Science
ISBN : 9781400888146

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The Social Origins of Language by Robert M. Seyfarth,Dorothy L. Cheney Pdf

How human language evolved from the need for social communication The origins of human language remain hotly debated. Despite growing appreciation of cognitive and neural continuity between humans and other animals, an evolutionary account of human language—in its modern form—remains as elusive as ever. The Social Origins of Language provides a novel perspective on this question and charts a new path toward its resolution. In the lead essay, Robert Seyfarth and Dorothy Cheney draw on their decades-long pioneering research on monkeys and baboons in the wild to show how primates use vocalizations to modulate social dynamics. They argue that key elements of human language emerged from the need to decipher and encode complex social interactions. In other words, social communication is the biological foundation upon which evolution built more complex language. Seyfarth and Cheney’s argument serves as a jumping-off point for responses by John McWhorter, Ljiljana Progovac, Jennifer E. Arnold, Benjamin Wilson, Christopher I. Petkov and Peter Godfrey-Smith, each of whom draw on their respective expertise in linguistics, neuroscience, philosophy, and psychology. Michael Platt provides an introduction, Seyfarth and Cheney a concluding essay. Ultimately, The Social Origins of Language offers thought-provoking viewpoints on how human language evolved.