Professional Documents
Culture Documents
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Cultural Evolution
Many factors affect how language will
change from generation to generation.
What people talk about.
Who talks to who how often.
What psychological learning mechanism
people have.
Ideas about what sounds good, or who
people want to sound like.
Biological Evolution
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Natural Selection
Biological evolution follows quite different
rules to cultural evolution.
It will occur whenever we have:
Multiplication
Variation
Heredity
Those genes that result in people
reproducing will be selected for.
Successful Reproduction
Survival
Sexual success
For almost all of our evolutionary history
weve been hunter-gatherers.
How does language help hunter
gatherers?
Does language ability affect social status?
Does language play a role in courtship?
Primate Evolution
Monkeys
Gorillas
Chimpanzees
Bonobos
Homo Sapiens
Wrong!
Australopithecus africanus
Australopithecus robustus
Australopithecus afarensis
Homo habilis
Homo erectus
Archaic Homo sapiens
gorillas
common chimpanzees
bonobos
Neanderthal
Australopithecus africanus
Australopithecus robustus
Australopithecus afarensis
Homo habilis
Homo erectus
Archaic Homo sapiens
gorillas
common chimpanzees
bonobos
Neanderthal
Australopithecus africanus
Australopithecus robustus
Australopithecus afarensis
Homo habilis
Homo erectus
Archaic Homo sapiens
gorillas
common chimpanzees
bonobos
Neanderthal
Australopithecus africanus
Australopithecus robustus
Australopithecus afarensis
Homo habilis
Homo erectus
Archaic Homo sapiens
gorillas
common chimpanzees
bonobos
Neanderthal
Australopithecus africanus
Australopithecus robustus
Australopithecus afarensis
Homo habilis
Homo erectus
Archaic Homo sapiens
gorillas
common chimpanzees
bonobos
Neanderthal
Australopithecus africanus
Australopithecus robustus
Australopithecus afarensis
Homo habilis
Homo erectus
Archaic Homo sapiens
gorillas
common chimpanzees
bonobos
Neanderthal
Australopithecus afarensis
Homo habilis
Homo erectus
gorillas
common chimpanzees
bonobos
Wild Chimpanzees
Communicate through gestures, facial
expressions, tactile contact, and about 25
different vocal calls.
Calls can express fear, puzzlement,
annoyance, food enjoyment, rage or
distress, excitement
Can alert other chimps to a food source
But much more like other animal
communication systems than human
languages
Teaching Language to
Chimpanzees
Chimpanzees cant control their breathing or
vocal apparatus
So cant mimic human speech
Good manual control
So several attempts to teach chimpanzees
American sign language (ASL)
Or to communicate by pointing to a board
of board of symbols
Nim Chimpsky
Nim eat Nim eat
Tickle me Nim play
Me banana you banana me you give
Banana me me me eat
No or very little syntax
Up to about 250 words maximum (using a
symbol board)
No turn taking or conversational rules
Almost always talk about immediate wants
Catastrophic Evolution
Theres nothing remotely like human
language anywhere in the animal world.
Suggests that there never was anything
halfway between chimp and human
language
A single mutation caused a crucial
connection to be made in the brain
Gradual Evolution
Ugh
Food
We hunt
Many buffalo
there
Ugh-Ugh
Dont attack
until I say
Lets spend the
winter here. Its more
sheltered and there
are many animals to
hunt
Because out language
skills got better we
survived better. But it all
happened slowly and
gradually.
Gossiping
2/3 of all conversation is about social
relations.
Both in developed countries and for
hunter-gatherers.
Does this kind of language use have any
effect on our fitness?
Does it help our survival rate?
Does it increase our reproductive
success?
Language
Evolved as a
Substitute for
Grooming
Monkeys and Apes
are very social
Complex
relationships
Grooming is main
form of social
interaction
Co-Evolution
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F (46) husband
F (17)
M (16)
F (12)
M (8)
M wife
M (20)
F (18)
F (43) husband
F (21)
F (17)
F (12)
F (11)
M (7)
M (40) wife
M (10)
F (7)
F (5)
F (2)?
F (38) - husband
M (17)
M (15)
M (14)
F (12)
M (10)
M (8)
F (7)
M (6)
fraternal twins
F (6)
FOXP2
In 2001a gene was found in all affected
family members
No non-affected family members had this
gene
Nor did any of 360 controls from the
general population
FOXP2 controls the expression of other
genes
Affects brain development (at embryo stage)
Evolution of FOXP2
75 Million
years ago
FOXP2 Mutations
FOXP2 mutations have been selected for
in humans (are not due to random drift).
Mutation probably happened 10,000 to
100,000 years ago.
KE family mutation is different in a
completely different part of the gene.
But may still give us some idea what the
mutations were for.
Implications of FOXP2
Does FOXP2 really tell us anything about
language evolution?
Does FOXP2 code for morphology?
Or does the mutation of FOXP2 disrupt
whatever codes for morphology?
Does FOXP2 suggest that something really
language-specific evolved?
Summary
Language evolution raises a lot of questions:
What evolved?
When did it evolve?
Why did it evolve?
Key point All explanations in linguistics
must ultimately be grounded in terms of
biological evolution by natural selection.