LIN 201

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LIN 201

• Fall 2005
• Lecture XVII (17)
• Origin of Language II

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Exam II (1)

• Exam II, Mon., Oct. 31, in class.
• Review Sheet available today.
• Review Session Fri., Oct. 28, 200-330, 207 HL.
• For the exam
• Bring your own 2 pencil or black pen,
• Fill in the Test Form bubble.
• Avoid erasures.

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Agenda

• 1. Review Evolution in general.
• 2. Human evolution.
• 3. Origin of language Physical developments.
• 4. About when did language arise?
• 5. Early mental grammars.
• 6. Tape Unlocking language

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Agenda

• 1. Review of evolution in general.

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Evolution -- general Sum

• Descent with modification.
• Natural selection.

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Some evidence for evolution

• a. Comparison of structures.
• b. Early steps in growth.
• c. Comparison of DNA across species.

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Agenda

• 2. Human evolution -- one account.

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Human evolution (oversimplified)
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Common ancestor of chimps and humans (1) 10
million yrs ago
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Common ancestor of chimps and humans (2)

• 1. Reproduction and descent with modification
  among all members of this group.
• 2. Environment Rain forest.

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Pre-chimps and pre-humans The Great Rift Valley
(8 million yrs ago)
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Results of this split

• 1. Reproductive isolation between the two groups.
• 2. Separate descent-with-modification in
  pre-chimpanzees and in pre-humans .

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Pre-chimps and pre-humans (4) Climate change
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Natural selection of pre-humans in the grasslands
environment.

• 1. Upright posture (bipedalism).
• 2. Increased brain size.
• a. Tool-making.
• b. More complex social structure.

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Agenda

• 3. Origin of language Physical developments.

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Evolution and language

• Claim Language is a product of the evolution of
  the human brain/mind.
• Potential evidence
• Similarity of relevant human physical structures
  (the brain) and mental structures (linguistic
  structures) to those of related non-human species.

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Change in pre-human genes (DNA)

• Physical changes in the brain due to descent with
  modification (mutations changes in pre-human
  genes) producing variation among pre-human
  individuals with respect to those properties of
  the brain that underlie language acquisition and
  use.
• Natural selection of those who had the language
  gene.

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Origin of language (1)

• General increase in brain size in human ancestors
  (indicating growth in general intelligence, tool
  use, etc.).
• Insufficient to determine origin of language
  (modularity).

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Origin of language (2)

• General increase in asymmetry in the brain in
  human ancestors (left hemisphere getting larger).
• Suggests increased specialization of the brain
  toward language.

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Shared physical structures in related species

• Apes (chimps, gorillas) show asymmetry of the
  brain (left hemisphere larger).
• Conclusions
• 1. Human language is a product of evolution.
• 2. The common ancestor of the great apes had the
  (potential for) relevant asymmetry.

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Agenda

• 4. About when did language appear?

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When language appeared

• There was a great flowering of human artifacts
  (fossil record) about 40,000 years ago.
• Conclusion Language came into existence before
  then (between 50,000 and 100,000 years ago).

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Agenda

• 5. Early mental grammars An approach to the
  problem.

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Question

• What were the earliest mental grammars like?

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Approach to the problem (1)

• Language-like capacities (characteristics of
  mental grammars) that are shared across humans
  and related species (non-human primates) were the
  earliest to appear in the evolutionary process.
• Features of mental grammars that remain in
  reduced grammars were the earliest to appear in
  the evolutionary process.

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Approach to the problem (2)

• Shared across primates
• Chimp, gorilla experiments.
• Cases of reduced language
• 1. Child language.
• 2. Post-Critical Period language.
• 3. Aphasia.
• 4. Pidgin and creole languages.

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Approach to the problem (3)

• The development over time of the capacity for
  language acquisition (and use) is essentially the
  development of the human genetic endowment for
  this capacity -- I.e., the development of
  Universal Grammar (UG).

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Agenda for early mental grammars

• 5a. Calls.
• 5b. Symbols.
• 5c. Open class of symbols (phonology).
• 5d. Combinations of symbols.
• 5e. Grammatical categories.
• 5f. Inflections.
• 5g. Movement rules.
• 5h. Evolution of language and the brain.

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Agenda

• 5a. Calls.

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Calls

• Non-human primates have a system of
  stimulus-controlled, situation-specific calls and
  other vocalizations in response to the here and
  now for
• Warnings.
• Mating and other social .
• Presence of food.
• Etc.

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Agenda

• 5b. Symbols

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Symbols

• Vocalizations used non-situation-specifically
  (used in the absence of the object or situation
  designated by the vocalization -- i.e.,
  symbolically) beginnings of a lexicon
• Some chimp results.
• Children shortly after the beginning of the
  one-word stage.

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Agenda

• 5c. Open class of symbols (phonology)

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Phonology

• The development of the capacity to recognize the
  same sound across different vocalizations --
  e.g., that bit and buck begin with the same
  sound -- allows the creation of new symbols with
  a small set of distinguishable elements. Allows
  the class of symbols to be open. Development of
  1exicon.

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Agenda

• 5d. Combination of symbols (beginnings of
  syntax).
• i. Linear combinations.
• ii. Semantic relations.

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i. Linear combinations

• Combination of symbols introduces creativity and
  greatly increases the set of available
  expressions.
• Found in long sign productions from chimpanzees.

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ii. Semantic relations

• Combinations used to represent semantic relations
  -- e.g., actor-action, possessor-possessed,
  object-location.
• Child two-word and telegraphic stages.

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Agenda

• 5e. Grammatical categories Nouns and Verbs.

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Grammatical categories

• A distinction arises between Nouns, which
  primarily designate objects (though also
  designate many other things), and Verbs, which
  designate situations -- a further refinement of
  syntactic structure.
• All forms of true language show this distinction
  child language, pidgins, etc.

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Agenda

• 5f. Inflections.

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Inflections (1)

• Inflections (e.g., case suffixes and agreement
  between Subject and Verb) become possible. This
  is a later development than other aspects of
  morphology/syntax.
• All languages have other aspects of syntax not
  all forms of language have inflections (pidgins,
  Brocas aphasia).
• Children develop inflections relatively late
  (after lexicon, combinations).

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Inflections (2)

• In Brocas aphasia, inflections (function words
  and morphemes) are lost.

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Agenda (added)

• 5g. Movement rules.

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Movement rules

• Movement rules (What do you think Cookie Monster
  eats ___?) evolve later.
• Pidgins have no movement rules.
• Children dont develop movement rules until later
  than other aspects of syntax.

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Agenda (added)

• 5h. Evolution of language and the brain.

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Evolution of language and the brain

• Highly speculative Note that those aspects of
  linguistic structure that seem to have appeared
  early and those that appeared late can be
  associated more or less with different locations
  in the brain
• Early lexicon (Wernickes area).
• Late syntax, inflection (Brocas area).

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Agenda

• 3. Videotape Unlocking language (excerpts).
  Questions on p. 67 of the Course Reader.
• a. Origin of language.
• b. A language gene.