Language Evolution and Computation Bibliography

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Victor M. Longa
2011
International Journal of Evolutionary Biology 2011, 2011
This paper examines the origins of language, as treated within Evolutionary Anthropology, under the light offered by a biolinguistic approach. This perspective is presented first. Next we discuss how genetic, anatomical, and archaeological data, which are traditionally ...
Lennebergs views on language development and evolution and their relevance for modern biolinguisticsPDF
Biolinguistics 5(3):254--273, 2011
Among the early pioneers of the biolinguistic enterprise (on which see Jenkins 2000, 2004, and Di Sciullo & Boeckx 2011), the names of Noam Chomsky and Eric Lenneberg stand out. Both did more than anyone else to make the study of language a biological topic. They did ...
2008
Long-Distance Dependencies are not Uniquely HumanPDF
Proceedings of the 7th International Conference on the Evolution of Language, pages 115-122, 2008
It is widely assumed that long-distance dependencies between elements are a unique feature of human language. Here we review recent evidence of long-distance correlations in sequences produced by non-human species and discuss two evolutionary scenarios for the evolution of human ...MORE ⇓
It is widely assumed that long-distance dependencies between elements are a unique feature of human language. Here we review recent evidence of long-distance correlations in sequences produced by non-human species and discuss two evolutionary scenarios for the evolution of human language in the light of these findings. Though applying their methodological framework, we conclude that some of Hauser, Chomsky and Fitch s central claims on language evolution are put into question to a different degree within each of those scenarios.
2006
A misconception about the Baldwin Effect: Implications for language evolution
Folia Linguistica 40(3-4):305-318, 2006
Many scholars working in the field of language evolution interpret the Baldwin Effect (i.e. the hypothesis that learned behaviors may become inherited, thus affecting the direction of evolutionary change) as a powerful evolutionary mechanism. Baldwin's proposal, however, is ...MORE ⇓
Many scholars working in the field of language evolution interpret the Baldwin Effect (i.e. the hypothesis that learned behaviors may become inherited, thus affecting the direction of evolutionary change) as a powerful evolutionary mechanism. Baldwin's proposal, however, is highly controversial, in that the empirical support for it is far from conclusive. The aim of this article is to critically examine one of the main sources of evidence adduced in support of the Baldwin Effect, namely its alleged parity, as repeatedly assumed in Briscoe's (2000, 2002, 2003, 2005) approach to language phylogeny, with Waddington's genetic assimilation. It is argued here, however, that Baldwin's and Waddington's mechanisms are fundamentally different, and that this has important consequences for Briscoe's evolutionary model.
2001
Sciences of complexity and language origins: an alternative to natural selectionPDF
Journal of Literary Semantics 30(1):1-17, 2001
Natural selection is claimed to be the only way to explain complex design. The same assumption has also been held for language. However, sciences of complex-ity have shown, from a wide range of domains, the existence of a clear alternative: self-organisation, spontaneous patterns ...MORE ⇓
Natural selection is claimed to be the only way to explain complex design. The same assumption has also been held for language. However, sciences of complex-ity have shown, from a wide range of domains, the existence of a clear alternative: self-organisation, spontaneous patterns of order arising from chaos. According to this view, design derives from internal factors (dynamic interaction of the ele-ments within the system) rather than from adaptation to the environment by means of selection. This paper aims to apply sciences of complexity to language origins; it shows that preexisting and well established ideas can be rethought ac-cording to such a view. The main objective of the paper is to illustrate the new and promising horizons that complexity could open as regards the origins of the most specific property of human beings.