The Origin and Diversification of Language
The Origin and Diversification of Language

Author: Morris Swadesh

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2017-09-04

Total Pages: 405

ISBN-13: 1351478028

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Morris Swadesh, one of this century's foremost scientific investigators of language, dedicated much of his life to the study of the origin and evolution of language. This volume, left nearly completed at his death and edited posthumously by Joel F. Sherzer, is his last major study of this difficult subject.Swadesh discusses the simple qualities of human speech also present in animal language, and establishes distinctively human techniques of expression by comparing the common features that are found in modern and ancient languages. He treats the diversification of language not only by isolating root words in different languages, but also by dealing with sound systems, with forms of composition, and with sentence structure. In so doing, he demonstrates the evidence for the expansion of all language from a single central area. Swadesh supports his hypothesis by ""exhibits"" that conveniently present the evidence in tabular form. Further clarity is provided by the use of a suggestive practical phonetic system, intelligible to the student as well as to the professional.The book also contains an Appendix, in which the distinguished ethnographer of language, Dell Hymes, gives a valuable account of the prewar linguistic tradition within which Swadesh did some of his most important work.

The Origin and Diversification of Language (Classic Reprint)
The Origin and Diversification of Language (Classic Reprint)

Author: Nina G. Jablonski

Publisher: Forgotten Books

Published: 2017-09-12

Total Pages: 216

ISBN-13: 9781528152310

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Excerpt from The Origin and Diversification of Language The Third Wattis Symposium in Anthropology and this volume would not have been possible without the support of many devoted individuals. Mrs. Phyllis Wattis herself deserves greatest thanks for her continued generous financial support and her inspiring enthusiasm, which seems only to increase from one symposium to another. Within the California Academy of Sciences itself, Nancy Gee of the Department of Anthropology is thanked for the work she contributed toward the organization of the symposium, but most especially for her painstaking work in typesetting this volume. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

The Origin and Diversification of Language
The Origin and Diversification of Language

Author: Nina G. Jablonski

Publisher: University of California Press

Published: 1998

Total Pages: 220

ISBN-13:

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Language gives human beings the gift of amazing behavioral flexibility, and yet much remains to be known about how we developed the sophisticated linguistic skills that we take for granted. In this volume, a range of distinguished scientists from disciplines as diverse as primatology, archaeology, neurobiology, and linguistics present the latest evidence on the origin, spread and diversification of language. The ability of human beings to communicate practical and symbolic information of great complexity to one another through the medium of articulate speech is one of the hallmarks of our species. But as with many other key innovations in human evolution, the beginnings of language did not leave direct traces in the fossil record. The exploration of various kinds of indirect evidence has thus proven essential. Making use of the most recent theoretical developments and technological breakthroughs, the contributors to this volume bring a new perspective to questions of language origins and diversification. Distributed for the California Academy of Sciences

The Origin and Diversification of Language
The Origin and Diversification of Language

Author: Morris Swadesh

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2017-09-04

Total Pages: 371

ISBN-13: 1351478036

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Morris Swadesh, one of this century's foremost scientific investigators of language, dedicated much of his life to the study of the origin and evolution of language. This volume, left nearly completed at his death and edited posthumously by Joel F. Sherzer, is his last major study of this difficult subject.Swadesh discusses the simple qualities of human speech also present in animal language, and establishes distinctively human techniques of expression by comparing the common features that are found in modern and ancient languages. He treats the diversification of language not only by isolating root words in different languages, but also by dealing with sound systems, with forms of composition, and with sentence structure. In so doing, he demonstrates the evidence for the expansion of all language from a single central area. Swadesh supports his hypothesis by ""exhibits"" that conveniently present the evidence in tabular form. Further clarity is provided by the use of a suggestive practical phonetic system, intelligible to the student as well as to the professional.The book also contains an Appendix, in which the distinguished ethnographer of language, Dell Hymes, gives a valuable account of the prewar linguistic tradition within which Swadesh did some of his most important work.

New Essays on the Origin of Language
New Essays on the Origin of Language

Author: Jürgen Trabant

Publisher: Walter de Gruyter

Published: 2011-06-24

Total Pages: 269

ISBN-13: 3110849089

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The contributions to this volume reflect the state of the art in the renewed discussion on the origin of language. Some of the most important specialists in the field - life scientists and linguists - primarily examine two aspects of the question: the origin of the language faculty and the evolution of the first language. At stake is the relation between nature and culture and between universality and historical particularity as well as cognition, communication, and the very essence of language.

ORIGIN EARLY DIVERS LAND PLANT PB
ORIGIN EARLY DIVERS LAND PLANT PB

Author: KENRICK PAUL

Publisher: Smithsonian Institution Scholarly Press

Published: 1997-08-17

Total Pages: 462

ISBN-13:

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The first comprehensive application of cladistics to the massive body of data on both living and fossil plants, this book clarifies phylogenetic patterns within and among basal groups of land plants. In its analysis of the patterns and processes underlying the origin of land plants, the book sheds light on central questions surrounding the initial assembly of terrestrial ecosystems.

The Symbolic Species: The Co-evolution of Language and the Brain
The Symbolic Species: The Co-evolution of Language and the Brain

Author: Terrence W. Deacon

Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company

Published: 1998-04-17

Total Pages: 532

ISBN-13: 0393343022

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"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.

The Origin of Language
The Origin of Language

Author: Merritt Ruhlen

Publisher: Wiley

Published: 1996-08-15

Total Pages: 258

ISBN-13: 9780471159636

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"Ruhlen is a leader in the new attempt to unify the theory of language development and diffusion."––Library Journal "A powerful statement...also a wonderfully clear exposition of linguistic thinking about prehistory."––Anthropological Science One of the world's foremost language researchers takes readers step-by-step through the hotly contested evidence that all modern languages derive from one "mother tongue" once spoken by primitive humans in Africa. With The Origin of Language, Merritt Ruhlen makes this fascinating science accessible to readers with no linguistic background. MERRITT RUHLEN, PhD (Palo Alto, California) is the author of A Guide to the World's Languages