Mutation, modularity, merge, communication and selection

•Two radically opposed ideas about language evolution are stripped to core elements and discussed.•Assessed as such, extreme positions are untenable.•Language grew within a co-evolutionary spiral that requires further exploration to understand. Contemporary disputes about the origins and evolution o...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Current opinion in behavioral sciences 2018-06, Vol.21, p.76-79
Main Author: Hurford, James R
Format: Article
Language:English
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Summary:•Two radically opposed ideas about language evolution are stripped to core elements and discussed.•Assessed as such, extreme positions are untenable.•Language grew within a co-evolutionary spiral that requires further exploration to understand. Contemporary disputes about the origins and evolution of language are reviewed. The main issues involved are: how many mutations gave rise to the Language faculty, whether a new cognitive domain was thereby created, how powerful Language was from the beginning, whether the initial function of Language was private thought or public communication, and whether natural selection influenced its rise.
ISSN:2352-1546
2352-1554
DOI:10.1016/j.cobeha.2018.01.011