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Author: Rudolf Botha
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Published: 2020-05-21
Total Pages: 223
ISBN-13: 1108491324
DOWNLOAD EBOOKBy appraising controversial inferences from prehistorians and other scientists, the book addresses the fascinating question of whether Neanderthals had language.
Author: Steven J. Mithen
Publisher: Harvard University Press
Published: 2006
Total Pages: 390
ISBN-13: 9780674021921
DOWNLOAD EBOOKAn examination of our language instinct. Steven Mithen draws on a huge range of sources, from neurological case studies, through child psychology and the communication systems of non-human primates to the latest paleoarchaeological evidence.
Author: Svante Pbo
Publisher: Basic Books (AZ)
Published: 2014-02-11
Total Pages: 290
ISBN-13: 0465020836
DOWNLOAD EBOOKAn influential geneticist traces his investigation into the genes of humanity's closest evolutionary relatives, explaining what his sequencing of the Neanderthal genome has revealed about their extinction and the origins of modern humans.
Author: Steven Roger Fischer
Publisher: Reaktion Books
Published: 2004-10-03
Total Pages: 244
ISBN-13: 1861895941
DOWNLOAD EBOOKIt is tempting to take the tremendous rate of contemporary linguistic change for granted. What is required, in fact, is a radical reinterpretation of what language is. Steven Roger Fischer begins his book with an examination of the modes of communication used by dolphins, birds and primates as the first contexts in which the concept of "language" might be applied. As he charts the history of language from the times of Homo erectus, Neanderthal humans and Homo sapiens through to the nineteenth century, when the science of linguistics was developed, Fischer analyses the emergence of language as a science and its development as a written form. He considers the rise of pidgin, creole, jargon and slang, as well as the effects radio and television, propaganda, advertising and the media are having on language today. Looking to the future, he shows how electronic media will continue to reshape and re-invent the ways in which we communicate. "[a] delightful and unexpectedly accessible book ... a virtuoso tour of the linguistic world."—The Economist "... few who read this remarkable study will regard language in quite the same way again."—The Good Book Guide
Author: Robert C. Berwick
Publisher: MIT Press
Published: 2017-05-12
Total Pages: 229
ISBN-13: 0262533499
DOWNLOAD EBOOKBerwick 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.
Author: Rudolf Botha
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Published: 2020-05-21
Total Pages: 223
ISBN-13: 1108865445
DOWNLOAD EBOOKDid Neanderthals have language, and if so, what was it like? Scientists agree overall that the behaviour and cognition of Neanderthals resemble that of early modern humans in important ways. However, the existence and nature of Neanderthal language remains a controversial topic. The first in-depth treatment of this intriguing subject, this book comes to the unique conclusion that, collective hunting is a better window on Neanderthal language than other behaviours. It argues that Neanderthal hunters employed linguistic signs akin to those of modern language, but lacked complex grammar. Rudolf Botha unpacks and appraises important inferences drawn by researchers working in relevant branches of archaeology and other prehistorical fields, and uses a large range of multidisciplinary literature to bolster his arguments. An important contribution to this lively field, this book will become a landmark book for students and scholars alike, in essence, illuminating Neanderthals' linguistic powers.
Author: Rudolf P. Botha
Publisher:
Published: 2020
Total Pages:
ISBN-13: 9781108811842
DOWNLOAD EBOOK"The questions "Did Neanderthals have language?" and "If they did, what was it like?" have intrigued scholars and laypersons for about a century and a half. Yet there are no answers to these questions that are not controversial, making the existence and nature of Neanderthal language a murky matter. This book attempts to disperse the murk by critically analysing important inferences that have been drawn by prehistorians and other scientists about Neanderthal language from a range of Neanderthal behaviours. These include four allegedly symbolic behavious: making and wearing personal ornaments, creating cave art, decorating bodies and burying the dead. And three non-symbolic behaviours: making stone tools, teaching stone-tool making, and cooperatively hunting big game. The book finds strong grounds for doubting the soundness of all the analysed inferences. It identifies Neanderthals' cooperative hunting as being currently the best behavioural window on their linguistic powers. Also better than what is known about their genes and brains. Viewed through the hunting window, Neanderthal language employed linguistic signs resembling those of modern human language, but lacked complex grammar"--
Author: Thomas Wynn
Publisher: OUP USA
Published: 2012-01-26
Total Pages: 223
ISBN-13: 0199742820
DOWNLOAD EBOOKIn this book, the authors provide a fascinating narrative of the mental life of Neandertals, to the extent that it can be reconstructed from fossil and archaeological remains.
Author: Trevor Cox
Publisher: Catapult
Published: 2018-09-18
Total Pages: 315
ISBN-13: 1640090800
DOWNLOAD EBOOKA history of how humans developed our capacity for conversation—and what might happen now that computers are catching up. Trevor Cox has been described by The Observer as ""a David Attenborough of the acoustic realm."" In Now You're Talking, he takes us on a journey through the wonders of human speech, starting with the evolution of language and our biological capability to speak (and listen), and bringing us up to date with the latest computer technology. Language is what makes us human, and how we speak is integral to our personal identity. But with the invention of sound recording and the arrival of the electrified voice, human communication changed forever; now advances in computer science and artificial intelligence are promising an even greater transformation. And with it come the possibilities to reproduce, manipulate, and replicate the human voice—sometimes with disturbing consequences. Now You're Talking is the fascinating story of our ability to converse. It takes us back to the core of our humanity, asking important questions about what makes us human and how this uniqueness might be threatened. On this illuminating tour we meet vocal coaches and record producers, neuroscientists and computer programmers, whose experience and research provide us with a deeper understanding of something that most of us take for granted—our ability to talk and listen.
Author: Terrence W. Deacon
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
Published: 1998-04-17
Total Pages: 532
ISBN-13: 0393343022
DOWNLOAD EBOOK"A work of enormous breadth, likely to pleasantly surprise both general readers and experts."—New York Times Book Review This revolutionary book provides fresh answers to long-standing questions of human origins and consciousness. Drawing on his breakthrough research in comparative neuroscience, Terrence Deacon offers a wealth of insights into the significance of symbolic thinking: from the co-evolutionary exchange between language and brains over two million years of hominid evolution to the ethical repercussions that followed man's newfound access to other people's thoughts and emotions. Informing these insights is a new understanding of how Darwinian processes underlie the brain's development and function as well as its evolution. In contrast to much contemporary neuroscience that treats the brain as no more or less than a computer, Deacon provides a new clarity of vision into the mechanism of mind. It injects a renewed sense of adventure into the experience of being human.
