The Gradual Evolution of Language
Language is commonly held to be unique to humans, and to have emerged suddenly in a single “great leap forward” within the past 100,000 years. The view is profoundly anti-Darwinian, and I propose instead a framework for understanding how language might have evolved incrementally from our primate her...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Associazione Culturale Humana.Mente
2014-12-01
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| Series: | Humana.Mente: Journal of Philosophical Studies |
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| Online Access: | http://www.humanamente.eu/index.php/HM/article/view/96 |
| _version_ | 1828523777787428864 |
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| author | Michael C. Corballis |
| author_facet | Michael C. Corballis |
| author_sort | Michael C. Corballis |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Language is commonly held to be unique to humans, and to have emerged suddenly in a single “great leap forward” within the past 100,000 years. The view is profoundly anti-Darwinian, and I propose instead a framework for understanding how language might have evolved incrementally from our primate heritage. One major proposition is that language evolved from manual action, with vocalization emerging as the dominant mode late in hominin evolution. The second proposition has to do with the role of language as a means of communicating about events displaced in space and time from the present. Some have argued that mental time travel itself is unique to human, which might explain why language itself is uniquely human. I argue instead that mental time travel has ancient evolutionary origins, and gradually assumed narrative-like properties during the Pleistocene, when language itself began to take shape. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-11T20:34:11Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-1e96369c56634b9eb667b22ef1903853 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1972-1293 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-11T20:34:11Z |
| publishDate | 2014-12-01 |
| publisher | Associazione Culturale Humana.Mente |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Humana.Mente: Journal of Philosophical Studies |
| spelling | doaj.art-1e96369c56634b9eb667b22ef19038532022-12-22T00:51:42ZengAssociazione Culturale Humana.MenteHumana.Mente: Journal of Philosophical Studies1972-12932014-12-01727The Gradual Evolution of LanguageMichael C. Corballis0School of Psychology, University of Auckland, New ZealandLanguage is commonly held to be unique to humans, and to have emerged suddenly in a single “great leap forward” within the past 100,000 years. The view is profoundly anti-Darwinian, and I propose instead a framework for understanding how language might have evolved incrementally from our primate heritage. One major proposition is that language evolved from manual action, with vocalization emerging as the dominant mode late in hominin evolution. The second proposition has to do with the role of language as a means of communicating about events displaced in space and time from the present. Some have argued that mental time travel itself is unique to human, which might explain why language itself is uniquely human. I argue instead that mental time travel has ancient evolutionary origins, and gradually assumed narrative-like properties during the Pleistocene, when language itself began to take shape.http://www.humanamente.eu/index.php/HM/article/view/96evolutionmental time travelhippocampus |
| spellingShingle | Michael C. Corballis The Gradual Evolution of Language Humana.Mente: Journal of Philosophical Studies evolution mental time travel hippocampus |
| title | The Gradual Evolution of Language |
| title_full | The Gradual Evolution of Language |
| title_fullStr | The Gradual Evolution of Language |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Gradual Evolution of Language |
| title_short | The Gradual Evolution of Language |
| title_sort | gradual evolution of language |
| topic | evolution mental time travel hippocampus |
| url | http://www.humanamente.eu/index.php/HM/article/view/96 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT michaelccorballis thegradualevolutionoflanguage AT michaelccorballis gradualevolutionoflanguage |