Related Papers
The Origins of Language: When, Why and How
Rick Doble
Although hom*o sapiens were anatomically able to talk 150,000 years ago (150 kya), it appears that they did not until about 40 kya when the Upper Paleolithic cultural and symbolic explosion occurred. To date, there has been no satisfactory explanation. This paper attempts to provide an answer as to when a fully developed G1 language came into being and the reasons for the emergence of such a language plus the reasons why the later Paleolithic explosion took so long to develop. Specifically, the abilities of the hom*o sapiens' prefrontal cortex, the planning involved with various tool-making and other processes, the development of episodic memory, the growing use of spoken words, and a new understanding of time -- all came together about 100 kya. It then took another 60 ky before this new sensibility led to an established belief system which resulted in the Upper Paleolithic cultural explosion.
Early Linguists.pdf
Peter J Huber
This article was written to draw attention to some very remarkable linguistic documents: a set of five bilingual Sumerian-Akkadian paradigms dating to the early 2nd millennium BC, when Sumerian was dead or dying as a spoken language. These sophisticated texts, whose structure I shall here discuss in detail, are by far the earliest serious grammatical documents in existence. Regrettably, they are hardly known outside of Sumerological circles and deserve wider publicity. The relevance of this fascinating linguistic material to the history of science is comparable to, or even surpassing, that of the mathematical texts of the same period.
Language
New perspectives on the origins of language ed. by Claire Lefebvre, Bernard Comrie, and Henri Cohen
2015 •
Umberto Ansaldo
New perspectives on the origins of language
Umberto Ansaldo
Early Linguists
Early Linguists
2024 •
Peter J Huber
This article was written to draw attention to some very remarkable linguistic documents: a set of five bilingual Sumerian-Akkadian paradigms dating to the early 2nd millennium BC, when Sumerian was dead or dying as a spoken language. These sophisticated texts, whose structure I shall here discuss in detail, are by far the earliest serious grammatical documents in existence. Regrettably, they are hardly known outside of Sumerological circles and deserve wider publicity. The relevance of this fascinating linguistic material to the history of science is comparable to, or even surpassing, that of the mathematical texts of the same period.
Journal of Linguistics
Review of How Language Began, by Daniel Everett
2017 •
Norbert Francis
This new book by Daniel Everett stands as a significant contribution to the discussion of language evolution because it puts forward the strongest claims so far in what has been an important exchange, probably the most visible in recent years. While How Language Began (henceforth HLB) is written for a general readership, the main proposals are presented clearly, drawing the lines of the debate sharper than in previous turns. Its strong hypotheses now set the stage for better understanding the points in contention and for drawing us closer to resolving them.
FROM T HE NAT URAL ORIGIN OF LANGUAGE [Able 2001] INT RODUCT ION
Robin Allott
A funtional Analysis of the Origins, Evolution and Antiquity of Language
Ryan Leahy
This project analyses a wide range of current literature concerning the origins and evolution of language. A major focus is on constraining the time in which language evolved, covering recent and gradual origins hypotheses. Included are models that interpret the foundations of language as a sudden emergent property, as well as models that propose an accretionary accrual of a modern suite of linguistic abilities. A ‘gesture-first’ model is presented in line with the gradual evolution of language, and tool-making is suggested as a reinforcement framework for language lateralization and even syntactical operations. Finally, the supportive biological evidence (including the Kebara 2 hyoid bone and FOXP2) is determined to reinforce the gradual and gestural models rather than emergent models of language evolution. What we are left with is a model that posits that language cannot have originated later than 100kya, could have gained prominence between then and 400,000 years ago and was already subject to a functional cultural-ecological development prior to this.
Origins of Language: Blah, Blah, Yadda, Yadda
Michel Demyen
There are over 6000 languages in the world, different dialects within communities, pigins and creole languages, clicks and whistles, guttural and sweet, but how did this all begin? Who, what, how did we learn to speak so many languages? There are many theories. One of those theories suggests that the origin of language is monogenesis, some argue that perhaps the first language began with one of the most unlikely ancestors: Neanderthals. Is this possible? The focus of this paper is whether or not Neanderthals may have had the same capabilities for speech as modern humans.
Language in Prehistory
2015 •
Alan J Barnard
