Simulating the Evolution of Language
Simulating the Evolution of Language

Author: Angelo Cangelosi

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2012-12-06

Total Pages: 350

ISBN-13: 1447106636

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This book is the first to provide a comprehensive survey of the computational models and methodologies used for studying the evolution and origin of language and communication. Comprising contributions from the most influential figures in the field, it presents and summarises the state-of-the-art in computational approaches to language evolution, and highlights new lines of development. Essential reading for researchers and students in the fields of evolutionary and adaptive systems, language evolution modelling and linguistics, it will also be of interest to researchers working on applications of neural networks to language problems. Furthermore, due to the fact that language evolution models use multi-agent methodologies, it will also be of great interest to computer scientists working on multi-agent systems, robotics and internet agents.

The Evolutionary Emergence of Language
The Evolutionary Emergence of Language

Author: Chris Knight

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2000-11-20

Total Pages: 444

ISBN-13: 9780521786966

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Language has no counterpart in the animal world. Unique to Homo sapiens, it appears inseparable from human nature. But how, when and why did it emerge? The contributors to this volume - linguists, anthropologists, cognitive scientists, and others - adopt a modern Darwinian perspective which offers a bold synthesis of the human and natural sciences. As a feature of human social intelligence, language evolution is driven by biologically anomalous levels of social cooperation. Phonetic competence correspondingly reflects social pressures for vocal imitation, learning, and other forms of social transmission. Distinctively human social and cultural strategies gave rise to the complex syntactical structure of speech. This book, presenting language as a remarkable social adaptation, testifies to the growing influence of evolutionary thinking in contemporary linguistics. It will be welcomed by all those interested in human evolution, evolutionary psychology, linguistic anthropology, and general linguistics.

The Major Transitions in Evolution
The Major Transitions in Evolution

Author: John Maynard Smith

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 1997-10-30

Total Pages: 361

ISBN-13: 019850294X

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During evolution there have been several major changes in the way genetic information is organized and transmitted from one generation to the next. These transitions include the origin of life itself, the first eukaryotic cells, reproduction by sexual means, the appearance of multicellular plants and animals, the emergence of cooperation and of animal societies. This is the first book to discuss all these major transitions and their implications for our understanding of evolution.Clearly written and illustrated with many original diagrams, this book will be welcomed by students and researchers in the fields of evolutionary biology, ecology, and genetics.

Language Evolution
Language Evolution

Author: Morten H. Christiansen

Publisher: OUP Oxford

Published: 2003-07-24

Total Pages: 418

ISBN-13: 0191581666

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What is it that makes us human? This is one of the most challenging and important questions we face. Our species' defining characteristic is language - we appear to be unique in the natural world in having such an incredibly open-ended system for putting thoughts into words. If we are to truly understand ourselves as a species we must understand the origins of this strange and unique ability. To do so, we need to answer some of the most intriguing questions in contemporary scientific research: Where did language come from? How did it evolve? Why are we unique in possessing it? This book, for the first time, brings together the leading thinkers who are trying to unlock the puzzle of language evolution. Here we see the latest ideas and theories from fields as diverse as anthropology, archaeology, artificial life, biology, cognitive science, linguistics, neuroscience, and psychology. In a series of seventeen well-written and accessible chapters we get an unrivalled view of the state of the art in this exciting area. Current controversies are revealed and new perspectives uncovered, in a clear and readable guide to the latest theories. This collection marks a major step forward in our quest to understand the origins and evolution of human language. In doing so it sheds new light on the process of evolution, the workings of the brain, the structure of language, and - most importantly - what it means to be human. Language Evolution is essential reading for researchers and students working in the areas covered, and has been used as a textbook for courses in the field. It will also attract the general reader who wants to know more about this fascinating subject.

Animal Communication Theory
Animal Communication Theory

Author: Ulrich E. Stegmann

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2018-07-11

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9781108464727

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The explanation of animal communication by means of concepts like information, meaning and reference is one of the central foundational issues in animal behaviour studies. This book explores these issues, revolving around questions such as: • What is the nature of information? • What theoretical roles does information play in animal communication studies? • Is it justified to employ these concepts in order to explain animal communication? • What is the relation between animal signals and human language? The book approaches the topic from a variety of disciplinary perspectives, including ethology, animal cognition, theoretical biology and evolutionary biology, as well as philosophy of biology and mind. A comprehensive introduction familiarises non-specialists with the field and leads on to chapters ranging from philosophical and theoretical analyses to case studies involving primates, birds and insects. The resulting survey of new and established concepts and methodologies will guide future empirical and theoretical research.

Experiments in Cultural Language Evolution
Experiments in Cultural Language Evolution

Author: Luc Steels

Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing

Published: 2012

Total Pages: 319

ISBN-13: 902720456X

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Explores the cultural side of language evolution. This book proposes a framework based on linguistic selection and self-organization. It investigates how particular types of language systems can emerge in the population of language game playing agents and how they can continue to evolve in order to cope with changes in ecological conditions.

How the Brain Got Language
How the Brain Got Language

Author: Michael A. Arbib

Publisher: OUP USA

Published: 2012-04-11

Total Pages: 436

ISBN-13: 0199896682

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Unlike any other species, humans can learn and use language. This book explains how the brain evolved to make language possible, through what Michael Arbib calls the Mirror System Hypothesis. Because of mirror neurons, monkeys, chimps, and humans can learn by imitation, but only "complex imitation," which humans exhibit, is powerful enough to support the breakthrough to language. This theory provides a path from the openness of manual gesture, which we share with nonhuman primates, through the complex imitation of manual skills, pantomime, protosign (communication based on conventionalized manual gestures), and finally to protospeech. The theory explains why we humans are as capable of learning sign languages as we are of learning to speak. This fascinating book shows how cultural evolution took over from biological evolution for the transition from protolanguage to fully fledged languages. The author explains how the brain mechanisms that made the original emergence of languages possible, perhaps 100,000 years ago, are still operative today in the way children acquire language, in the way that new sign languages have emerged in recent decades, and in the historical processes of language change on a time scale from decades to centuries. Though the subject is complex, this book is highly readable, providing all the necessary background in primatology, neuroscience, and linguistics to make the book accessible to a general audience.

Evolution Of Language, The - Proceedings Of The 9th International Conference (Evolang9)
Evolution Of Language, The - Proceedings Of The 9th International Conference (Evolang9)

Author: Erica A Cartmill

Publisher: World Scientific

Published: 2012-02-29

Total Pages: 599

ISBN-13: 981440151X

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Proceedings of Evolang IX, the 9th International Conference on the Evolution of Language.The Evolang conferences are the leading international conferences for new findings in the study of the origins and evolution of language. They attract a multidisciplinary audience. The proceedings are an important resource for researchers in the field.

The Origins of Complex Language
The Origins of Complex Language

Author: Andrew Carstairs-McCarthy

Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA

Published: 1999

Total Pages: 276

ISBN-13: 9780198238218

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Proposing a theory of the origins of human language ability and presenting an account of the early evolution of language, this text explains why humans are the only language-using animals and challenges the assumption that language is due to intelligence-- jacket cover.