![]() ![]() Noam Chomsky, a proponent of discontinuity theory, argues that a single chance mutation occurred in one individual in the order of 100,000 years ago, installing the language faculty (a hypothetical component of the mid-brain) in "perfect" or "near-perfect" form. Where vocal precursors are concerned, many continuity theorists envisage language evolving from early human capacities for song. Those who consider language as learned socially, such as Michael Tomasello, consider it developing from the cognitively controlled aspects of primate communication, these being mostly gestural as opposed to vocal. Others in this intellectual camp-notably Ib Ulbæk -hold that language evolved not from primate communication but from primate cognition, which is significantly more complex. Among those who consider language as mostly innate, some avoid speculating about specific precursors in nonhuman primates, stressing simply that the language faculty must have evolved in the usual gradual way.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |