Biolinguistics (E-Journal)
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The Urge to Merge: Ritual Insult and the Evolution of Syntax
No full textThroughout recorded history, sexually mature males have issued humorous insults in public. These ‘verbal duels’ are thought to discharge aggressive dispositions, and to provide a way to compete for status and mating opportunities without risking physical altercations. But, is there evidence that such verbal duels, and sexual selection in general, played any role in the evolution of specific principles of language, syntax in particular? In this paper, concrete linguistic data and analysis will be presented which indeed point to that conclusion. The prospect will be examined that an intermediate form of ‘proto-syntax’, involving ‘proto-Merge’, evolved in a context of ritual insult. This form, referred to as exocentric compound, can be seen as a ‘living fossil’ of this stage of proto-syntax — providing evidence not only of ancient structure (syntax/semantics), but also arguably of sexual selection
Computational Phenotypes: Where the Theory of Computation Meets Evo-Devo
No full textThis article argues that the Chomsky Hierarchy can be reinterpreted as a developmental morphospace constraining the evolution of a discrete and finite series of computational phenotypes. In doing so, the theory of Morphological Evolution as stated by Pere Alberch, a pioneering figure of Evo–Devo thinking, is adhered to
A Prospect for Evolutionary Adequacy: Merge and the Evolution and Development of Human Language
No full textBiolinguistic minimalism seeks a deeper explanation of the design, development and evolution of human language by reducing its core domain to the bare minimum including the set-formation operation Merge. In an attempt to open an avenue of research that may lead to an evolutionarily adequate theory of language, this article makes the following proposals: (i) Merge is the elementary combinatorial device that requires no more decomposition; (ii) the precursor to Merge may be found in the uniquely human capacity for hierarchical object manipulation; (iii) the uniqueness of the human lexicon may also be captured in terms of Merge. Empirical validations of these proposals should constitute one major topic for the biolinguistic program
The Evolution of I-Language: Lexicalization as the Key Evolutionary Novelty
No full textComparative psychological research suggests that human and non-human minds comprise an array of encapsulated cognitive systems (‘core knowledge systems’). While most of these cognitive building blocks appear to be shared across species, the cognitive gap between human and non-human minds is nevertheless quite stunning (Hauser’s Paradox). Following recent ideas concerning the crucial role of human word learning in cognitive development, it is here suggested that lexicalization — the association of concepts with words — is the key evolutionary novelty that allows linguistic minds to integrate the various encapsulated conceptual resources into a common mental language
Full Interpretation of Optimal Labeling
No full textThis article proposes that the label for each syntactic node/set is fully derivable from Agree operating on edge-features of lexical items. It is also proposed that the derivations of labels transparently carve the path for ?-marking at the semantic interface. When tied with the label asymmetry condition at the Sensorimotor-interface and principles of derivational economy, this theory of labeling/Agree derives effects of what is traditionally called the ?-Criterion at the semantic interface. Ramifications for the principle of Full Interpretation are also discussed
