Why only us : language and evolution / Robert C. Berwick, Noam Chomsky.

By:

Berwick, Robert C [author.]

Contributor(s):

Chomsky, Noam [author.]

Material type: Text

TextPublisher: Cambridge, Massachusetts ; London, England : The MIT Press, [2016]Copyright date: ©2016Description: 1 online resource (215 pages, 4 unnumbered pages of plates) : illustrations (some color)Content type:

text

Media type:

computer

Carrier type:

online resource

ISBN:

9780262333351
026233335X
9780262333368
0262333368

Subject(s):

Genre/Form:

Electronic books.

Additional physical formats: Print version:: Why only us.DDC classification:

401/.93 23

LOC classification:

P118 .B47 2016eb

NLM classification:

2017 I-347
P 118

Online resources:

Click here to access online

Contents:

Why now? -- Biolinguistics evolving -- Language architecture and its import for evolution -- Triangles in the brain.

Summary: 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 Publisher

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Item type	Home library	Collection	Call number	Materials specified	Status	Date due	Barcode
Electronic-Books	OPJGU Sonepat- Campus	E-Books EBSCO			Available

Includes bibliographical references (pages 167-199) and indexes.

Why now? -- Biolinguistics evolving -- Language architecture and its import for evolution -- Triangles in the brain.

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 Publisher

English.

online resource; title from PDF title page (ProQuest Ebook Central, viewed June 4, 2021)

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