Biolinguistics (E-Journal)
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What Lenneberg Got Right: A Homological Program for the Study of Language Evolution
No full textBy 1967, it was clear to Eric Lenneberg that reconstructing the phylogenetic history of language should require the adoption of a non-functional (or Owenian) homology concept for grounding relevant comparisons. Fifty years later, most biolinguistic approaches have betrayed this project, for they routinely derive their conclusions regarding the unique/shared status of language on merely folk grounds — as dramatically illustrated in Hauser, Chomsky & Fitch vs. Pinker & Jackendoff’s debate, or based on functional considerations — as in Chomsky’s recent conceptualization of language as a unique tool for thought. Here we claim that Lenneberg’s project needs to be resumed and we articulate some suggestions about how to conduct it, taking advantage of recent findings and new conceptual insights concerning two crucial levels of analysis actually pinpointed by him — namely, anatomical/molecular structure and physiological function
Linguistic and Nonverbal Abilities over Time in a Child Case of 22q11 Deletion Syndrome
No full textThe aim of this study is to profile the cognitive–linguistic performance of a male child (P.I.) with 22q11 deletion syndrome (22q11DS). Specifically, receptive and expressive language performance and nonverbal IQ (NVIQ) are described at two different time points—when P.I. was 6 and 10 years of age, respectively. Using case-based methodology, P.I.’s NVIQ and performance on global and structured language tasks are compared to typically developing children of the same chronological age and school-aged children with specific language impairment (SLI). The results show no improvement in NVIQ or vocabulary, but his morphosyntactic abilities did improve over time. The findings are discussed in relation to two hypotheses, either that the profile of language impairment in children with 22q11DS is distinctive to the syndrome or that there is co-morbidity with SLI. This is particularly important for speech–language therapists who have a primary role in diagnosing communication deficits and providing treatment
Three Ways to Link Merge with Hierarchical Concept-Combination
No full textIn the Minimalist Program, language competence is seen to stem from a fundamental ability to construct hierarchical structure, an operation dubbed ‘Merge’. This raises the problem of how to view hierarchical concept-combination. This is a conceptual operation which also builds hierarchical structure. We can conceive of a garden that consists of a lawn and a flower-bed, for example, or a salad consisting of lettuce, fennel and rocket, or a crew consisting of a pilot and engineer. In such cases, concepts are put together in a way that makes one the accommodating element with respect to the others taken in combination. The accommodating element becomes the root of a hierarchical unit. Since this unit is itself a concept, the operation is inherently recursive. Does this mean the mind has two independent systems of hierarchical construction? Or is some form of integration more likely? Following a detailed examination of the operations involved, this paper shows there are three main ways in which Merge might be linked to hierarchical concept-combination. Also examined are the architectural implications that arise in each case
Architecture of Human Language from the Perspective of a Case of Childhood Aphasia — Landau–Kleffner Syndrome
No full textThis paper addresses Landau–Kleffner syndrome (LKS), a childhood aphasia, from the perspective of I-language and the critical period for first language acquisition. LKS involves a language disorder and behavioral disturbances resembling autistic spectrum disorders due to electroencephalographic abnormalities with continuous spike-and-waves during sleep over the temporal regions. Comparing LKS with other childhood syndromes, the architecture of language is explored through elucidating the linguistic mechanisms behind the language disorder in LKS on the basis of Hickok & Poeppel’s (2007) dual-stream model of speech processing. It is claimed that early onset LKS provides further support for the critical period for first language acquisition and modularity of mind (the faculty of language), and that verbal auditory input during the critical period is most crucial for language recovery and development in LKS. Considering that electroencephalographic abnormalities affect cognitive/motor functions, ameliorating neural dysfunction in the affected brain areas with proper application of trans-cranial direct current stimulation is recommended
Phasal Eliminativism, Anti-Lexicalism, and the Status of the Unarticulated
No full textThis paper explores the prospect that grammatical expressions are propositionally whole and psychologically plausible, leading to the explanatory burden being placed on syntax rather than pragmatic processes, with the latter crucially bearing the feature of optionality. When supposedly unarticulated constituents are added, expressions which are propositionally distinct, and not simply more specific, arise. The ad hoc nature of a number of pragmatic processes carry with them the additional problem of effectively acting as barriers to implementing language in the brain. The advantages of an anti-lexicalist biolinguistic methodology are discussed, and a bi-phasal model of linguistic interpretation is proposed, Phasal Eliminativism, carved by syntactic phases and (optionally) enriched by a restricted number of pragmatic processes. In addition, it is shown that the syntactic operation of labeling (departing from standard Merge-centric evolutionary hypotheses) is responsible for a range of semantic and pragmatic phenomena, rendering core aspects of syntax and lexical pragmatics commensurable
A Functional Role for Neural Columns: Resolving F2 Transition Variability in Stop Place Categorization
No full textDocumented examples from neuroethology have revealed species-specific neural encoding mechanisms capable of mapping highly variable, but lawful, visual and auditory inputs within neural columns. By virtue of the entire column being the functional unit of both representation and processing, signal variation is collectively ‘absorbed’, and hence normalized, to help form natural categories possessing an underlying physically-based commonality. Stimulus-specific ‘tolerance ranges’ define the limits of signal variation, effectively shaping the functionality of the columnar-based processing. A conceptualization for an analogous human model utilizing this evolutionarily conserved neural encoding strategy for signal variability absorption is described for the non-invariance issue in stop place perception
Optimality and Plausibility in Language Design
No full textThe Minimalist Program in generative syntax has been the subject of much rancour, a good proportion of it stoked by Noam Chomsky’s suggestion that language may represent “a ‘perfect solution’ to minimal design specifications.” A particular flash point has been the application of Minimalist principles to speculations about how language evolved in the human species. This paper argues that Minimalism is well supported as a plausible approach to language evolution. It is claimed that an assumption of minimal design specifications like that employed in MP syntax satisfies three key desiderata of evolutionary and general scientific plausibility: Physical Optimism, Rational Optimism, and Darwin’s Problem. In support of this claim, the methodologies employed in MP to maximise parsimony are characterised through an analysis of recent theories in Minimalist syntax, and those methodologies are defended with reference to practices and arguments from evolutionary biology and other natural sciences