Acheulian, the, 185–86
Africa: and “big bang” theory, 35–36, 38, 51; environment of, 91; foraging in, 193; and language, 51–52, 180, 210n33; migration from, 29, 34–35, 37, 51, 167, 170, 201; predators in, 47, 91; and symbolic behavior, 38; and technology, 38, 201; tribes of, 106, 159
afterlife, belief in, 111–12
alarm calls, 175
Alexander, Richard D., 92
Animal Minds (Griffin), 70
Aquatic Ape, The (Morgan), 95
aquatic ape hypothesis, 48, 94–96, 162–63, 174
aquatic phase. See aquatic ape hypothesis; evolution
arbitrariness, myth of, 152–54. See also under speech
Ardipithecus ramidus, 91, 141, 221n70
Ardipithecus kaddaba, 91
Armstrong, David F., 128
artificial intelligence, 58–59
Auden, W. H., 67
babbling. See under speech
bans on discussion of language origins, 40–41, 49. See also Linguistic Society of Paris; Philological Society of London
bear cults, 112–13
Bellugi, Ursula, 128
“big bang” theory, 27, 34, 36–38, 40–41, 47, 51, 53, 167, 169, 196, 199. See also Africa; Chomsky, Noam; evolution; genes; language evolution
Bindel, Julie, 118–19
bipedalism: and aquatic ape hypothesis, 95–96, 141; and early birth, 708; in early hominins, 91, 140; efficiency of, 141; facultative, 142; freeing the hands, 141–42; obligate, 142; and obstetrical dilemma, 97; origins of, 141, 221n70; as pain in the ass, 8
Boë, Louis-Jean, 165
Bogin, Barry, 98
bonobo: common ancestry with humans, 4, 6, 39, 47, 89, 91, 140–41; communication in, 136; empathy in, 86; extinction of, 137; future thinking in, 71; and gesture, 136–38; keyboard communication in, 136, 175, 192, 199; language in, 33; memory in, 71; and mind wandering, 63; pointing in, 91, 139, 175; vocalization in, 163
Borges, Jorge Luis, 11–12
Boyd, Brian, 94, 104, 110–11, 198
brain: and aquatic phase, 48, 97; asymmetry of, 8–9, 37; brain imaging, 50, 59, 63, 74; in Denisovans, 35, 37; and emotion, 87; expansion of, x, 1, 22, 30, 42–43, 48, 73, 92, 94, 142, 193; and experience, 32; fully modern, 36; and genes, 37, 46, 94, 151, 165–69, 215n31; and group size, 92; growth of, 7–8, 97; and language, 53; and memory, 59, 73–80; and mind wandering, 73–80; in Neandertals, 34, 37; and remapping, 77–78; and social intelligence, 94; wiring of, 27, 30. See also entorhinal cortex; FOXP2 gene; hippocampus
Brooks, Alison, 38
Brown-Schmidt, Sarah, 184
Browning, Robert, 67
caching: in birds, 66, 68–69; in chimpanzee, 71; in Clark’s nutcracker, 66; in scrub jays, 69. See also memory
Call, Josep, 89
central pattern generator, 161
Chaminade, Thierry, 185
Chaser (border collie), 33, 136, 150–51, 175, 191, 227n7
Cheney, Dorothy L., 175
child development: adolescence, 98; childhood, 9, 98, 102; infancy, 6, 8, 32, 86, 97–98, 134–35, 139; juvenility, 98
chimpanzee: brain size of, 176; as “bush meat,” 38; common ancestry with humans, 4, 6, 39, 91, 140–41; communication in, 89–90, 132, 136–37, 192; displacement in, 135; empathy in, 86; facial expression in, 155; and FOXP2 gene, 166; future thinking in, 71–72; genetic comparison with humans, 6, 166, 205n6; and gesture, 127, 136–38, 192, 199; internal thinking in, 102; knuckle walking in, 141; language in, 28, 47, 127, 138–40; laughter in, 157; memory in, 69–71; and mime, 137; myelination of brain, 99; pointing in, 9, 90, 135, 139, 220n43; spine of, 140; theory of mind in, 87–90; tool making by, 22, 138; vocalization in, 131–33
Chomsky, Noam: against natural selection, 32–33, 41; and animal communication, 131; archaeological support for, 34–36; “big bang” theory, 9, 48, 165, 169, 191; and discrete infinity, 9–10, 183; and evo-devo, 46; and externalization, 30; and I-language, 29–31, 33, 57, 61, 79–80, 189; and language as miracle, 29, 40; language as organ, 40, 53; language as program, 59; review of Skinner’s Verbal Behavior, 11; and thought without language, 60; and unbounded Merge, 29–31, 185, 187–88, 199, 207n6; and universal grammar, 14–15, 30, 45–46, 48–49, 190
Christiansen, Morten, 1, 21, 46, 53
Clayton, Nicola, 69
cognitive linguistics, 21
cognitive niche, 48, 53, 92, 186, 193
Condillac, Abbé Étienne Bonnot de, 124
construction grammar. See under grammar
conventionalization, 5, 124, 144, 154, 170–71, 173–74, 176, 179–80, 182, 188, 194–96. See also under sign language; speech; words
cooperation, 86, 92–93, 193. See also theory of mind
Corballis, Michael C., 66–68, 128, 192, 218n16
Corkin, Suzanne, 74
Crawford, Michael A., 97
crime stories: dark side of, 116; role of detectives, 116–18; as morality tales, 116; and murder, 116–17, 120; origins of, 116; and science, 117. See also stories
Critchley, MacDonald, 126
Crow, Timothy J.: and brain asymmetry, 37; and handedness, 37; and language, 37; and speciation of Homo sapiens, 37, 47; and theory of mind, 37; and X and Y chromosomes, 37
Darwin, Charles: continuity between humans and animals, 79, 89, 176; “Darwin’s Mistake,” 28, 89, 207n2; on emotional expression, 85; on gestures, 130–31; and incremental change, 3, 23, 27–28, 40–42; and language evolution, 3, 40–41; and pre-adaptation, 42; on religion, 113–14; on sign language, 144, 158; theory of evolution, 1–3, 44
Deane, Paul, 183–84
death: acceptance of, 109; from choking, 164; and Maori legend, 108; and modern science, 109; and religion, 112
default mode network, 63, 75. See also mind wandering
Denisovans: brain size of, 35, 37, 96, 170; common ancestry, 35, 169; distinct from humans, 37, 169, 200; extinction of, 36, 96; genetic make-up, 35, 37, 94, 169; mating with humans, 35, 37; the question of speech in, 37; sign language in, 146
Descent of Man, The (Darwin), 41, 114
detective: as hero, 116–17; as problem-solver, 116–17; and science, 117; as voyeur, 118, 217n32
directed scratch, 87, 90, 136–37. See also gesture
discrete infinity, 9, 11, 18–19, 29, 79, 183
displacement, 29–30, 61, 80, 189
docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), 97
Dor, Daniel, 53–54, 61, 186, 189
“dual-stream” theory: dorsal stream, 151–52; of speech perception, 151; ventral stream, 151; of visual perception, 151; “what” vs. “where,” 151. See also under speech perception
Duarte, Marcos, 97
Duff, Melissa, 184
Duffy, Carol Ann, 157
Dunbar, Robin, 92, 113, 156–57
Dunbar number, 92
Einstein, Albert, 64
Eldredge, Niles, 44
Elizabeth of Palatine, 26–27
empathy: in animals, 86; and fiction, 103–4; in infants, 86, 214n12; and mirror neurons, 108. See also theory of mind
entorhinal cortex: grid modules in, 78–79; hippocampal mapping, 77–78. See also under hippocampus
Everett, Daniel, 53–54, 186, 202
evolution: of animals, 55, 80, 166; aquatic ape hypothesis, 94–96, 162–63; “big bang” theory, 27, 34, 36–38, 40–41, 47, 51, 53, 167, 169, 188, 196, 199; and bodily expression, 131, 163; of brain, 184; and creativity, 197; cultural, 53; of empathy, 86; and evo-devo, 46; and exaptation, 42; of the eye, 28; and fire, 107; and the future, 68; great leap forward, 34, 36–37, 170, 195; of the mind, 28, 32–33, 55, 79, 86, 93, 207n2; and natural selection, 1, 3, 22, 27–28, 31–33, 36, 40–53, 62, 114, 187–88, 200; of play, 104; of primates, 38–39, 48, 134, 148, 150; and punctuated equilibrium, 44; and religion, 113–14; and savanna, 95; and space, 191; and spandrels, 42; theory of, 1, 3, 27, 37, 39–40, 45, 113; as tinkerer, 43, 158; of tools, 53, 185, 200–201. See also language evolution
Evolution of Language, The (Fitch), 48
Expressions of the Emotions in Man and Animals (Darwin), 85, 144
facial movements: as bridge between gesture and speech, 155–57; in great apes, 155; in sign languages, 156; as social signals, 155–56; voluntary control of, 155. See also under sign language
Fauconnier, Gilles, 82
Faulkner, William, 18
fiction. See stories
fire, 106–7
FOXP2 gene: and Broca’s area, 166; exon 7 region, 166–67; KE family, 165–66; and language, 167, 169; in mouse, 166, 226n75; mutation on, 166; 166–68, 170; and plasticity, 168; in songbirds, 167; and speech, 167–68, 170; as transcription factor, 168; vocalization and, 166–68. See also speech
Frame, Janet, 178
Fry, Stephen, 19
Fuller, John, 65
future thinking: in animals, 67–69, 71–75, 77, 79, 194; and brain asymmetry, 212n35; as extension of episodic memory, 67; imagining future episodes, 66, 77–78, 177, 184, 194; and language, 79, 171, 181–82; and mind wandering, 63; and planning, 55, 63, 102, 105, 142, 191, 194; in religion, 113. See also mental time travel; mind wandering
Gallaudet University, 126–28
Gell-Mann, Murray, 180
genes: and “big bang” theory, 37, 44, 91, 170; and brain size, 94, 215n31; Darwin’s ignorance of, 3; shared with Denisovans, 37, 169; in great apes, 6; homeobox (Hox) genes, 45; in language evolution, 1, 37, 45, 151; and multicellularity, 198; number of, 45; shared with Neandertals, 37, 169; and psychosis, 37; and reading ability, 22; regulatory, 45; and the Rubicon, 203; and social evolution, 170; in songbirds, 151; and theory of mind, 37; and thought, 58. See also FOXP2 gene; Slit-Robo RhoGTPase-activating protein 2 (SRGAP2) gene
Genie, 6–7
Gentilucci, Maurizio, 157
gesture: in apes, 87, 90, 127; and cave drawings, 127; as communication, 84; facial, 8; as iconic, 142, 144, 152; in infants, 8; intentionality of, 90, 131, 135, 137–39; in Italians, 123–24; and mirror neurons, 128–30; as origin of language, 121, 123–46; as referential, 90; during speech, 8, 123–24; in stories, 106; voluntary control of, 131, 133
Gibbs, Wolcott, 180
Goodall, Jane, 131–32
Gould, Stephen Jay, 42–44
grammar: complexity of, 17, 52, 80, 202; construction grammar, 21; and episodes, 170; grammaticalization, 181–83; and inferior parietal lobule (IPL), 183–84; and mind wandering, 80; minimalism, 48, 188; rules of, 19; and space, 183–85, 190; theories of, 20–21, 29, 31; and tools, 184–86, 200; unbounded Merge. See also universal grammar
grasping, 129–30, 134, 141, 157–58, 184, 188, 191, 199
great leap forward. See evolution; evolution of language
Greene, Robert Lane, 5
Griffin, Donald R., 70
grooming, 87, 136, 155–56. See also under language evolution
Haldane, J. B. S., 160
hand-mouth connection, 147–48, 222n3
Harari, Yuvai Noah, 102
Hardy, Sir Alister, 95
Hebb, Donald, 104
Hewes, Gordon W., 127–28
Hickok, Gregory, 151–52
hippocampus: asymmetry of, 184; in birds, 77, as cognitive map, 75–76, 184, 190, 199; and consolidation, 76; and discrete infinity, 79; and entorhinal cortex, 77–79; and fiction, 74, 79, 102; and language, 184; and memory, 73–76, 102, 184; and mental time travel, 74–76, 177; and place cells, 75–77; in the rat, 76–79; and recursion, 190, 199; scaling in, 77–79; in taxi drivers, 75. See also memory
hippocampus minor, 72–73
Hitchens, Christopher, 114
Hockett, Charles, 161
Homer, 109–10
Homo: the genus, 91, 94, 96, 98, 148, 157, 162–63, 176; Homo erectus, 38, 96, 102–3, 164; Homo ergaster, 142; Homo habilis, 96; Homo narrans, 102; Homo sapiens, 35, 37–38, 47, 91, 96, 98, 146, 160, 169, 185–86, 191–92, 200–201. See also Denisovans; Neandertals
Hopper, Paul, 183
Hubbard, Edward, 153
Humphrey, Nicholas, 93
Huxley, Thomas Henry: as Darwin’s bulldog, 72–73; and hippocampus minor, 72–73; vs. Owen, 73, 212n45
I-language, 29–33, 48, 57–58, 61, 79–80, 189. See also mind wandering; universal grammar
Iliad (Homer), 109
imageless thought, 60
incredulity, argument from, 28
instinct: and competition, 193; cooperation, 92; future survival, 68; language as, 15, 41, 44, 207n18; and migration, 68; and monkey calls, 222n10; and sharing, 193
Instruction of Imagination, The (Dor), 53, 61
intentionality: in chimpanzees, 89; of gestures, 90, 131, 135, 137–39; and mirror system, 191; of pointing, 135; of tool use, 186; of vocalizations, 132–33, 154, 166, 175. See also gesture; mirror neurons
James, William, 101, 112, 188, 196, 218n5
Jarvis, Erich, D., 133
Johansson, Sverker, 169
Kant, Immanuel, 57
Kanzi, 33, 136, 139–40, 151, 163, 175, 192, 199. See also bonobo
Karlsson, Fred, 14
Karvonen, Elin, 72
Kingsley, Charles, 72
Kingsley, Mary, 159
Kinsler, Katherine, 32
Kirby, Simon, 1
Klein, Richard, 36
Klima, Edward S., 128
Kohler, Wolfgang, 153
Kulpe, Oswald, 60
Kundera, Milan, 177
language: behaviorist approach to, 10–11, 21–22; as biological, 5, 9; connectionist theories of, 21; critical period in, 6–7; as cultural, 5; and discrete infinity, 9–10; and displacement, 55, 80, 130, 135, 172; and externalization, 30–31, 60, 80; faculty of language in the broad sense (FLB), 48–49; faculty of language in the narrow sense (FLN), 48–49; generativity, 4, 11, 14, 18, 20–21, 36, 79–80, 183, 190–91; hippocampus, role of, 184; left-brain specialization, 8; metaphors in, 176, 184, 202; as miracle, 24–39; and natural selection, 40–54; as organ, 40, 53; as ostensive-referential, 90, 192, 214n6; and recursion, 12–14, 20; as rule-governed, 9, 10; second-language learning, 7; as sharing, 45, 54–55, 61–62, 90, 105, 121, 138, 189, 193–94, 196, 198, 200; templates for, 18–20; as tool, 53, 186, 197–98, 202; underdeterminacy of, 84, 90, 192, 196; as uniquely human, 1, 3–6; universality of, 6, 14–18. See also Chomsky, Noam; language evolution; sentences; words
Language: The Cultural Tool (Everett), 53
language evolution: “big bang” theory, 27, 34, 36–38, 40–41, 47, 51, 53, 167, 169, 188, 191, 196, 199; and evo-devo, 46–47; and exaptation, 42–44; gestural origins, 9, 123–46; great leap forward, 34, 36–37, 170, 195; grooming as precursor, 136; as Just-So story, 202–3; and natural selection, 1, 3, 22, 27–28, 31–33, 36, 39–54, 62, 114, 187–88, 200–201; and punctuated equilibrium, 44; as spandrel, 42–44
Language Instinct, The (Pinker), 44
language-of-thought hypothesis (LOTH), 57
languages: !Xóõ, 51; Arabic, 25; Bininj Gun-Wok, 17; Cayuga, 17; Chinglish, 52; English, 4, 60; French, 52, 60; Greek, 52; Hebrew, 24; Iatmul, 14; Ilgar, 16; Italian, 16, 52; Latin, 16; loss of, 5; Mandarin Chinese, 4, 15; Nadëb, 180; Navajo, 197; Pirahä, 14, 202; Romance languages, 4; Russian, 15; Seneca, 16; Silbo Gomero (whistled language), 50; Spanish, 4; Thangmi, 17; Tiriyo, 16; Tobati, 180; Turkish, 16; Turkish Sign Language, 145; of Vanuatu, 5; Walpiri, 181; Warao, 180; Wik Ngathana, 180. See also sign languages
larynx: descent of, 164; in speech, 148, 156, 164, 168; as a valve, 43
laughter: as emotional expression, 85; epidemics of, 157; faking of, 157; as preliminary to speech, 156–57; suppression of, 132
Leavens, David, 138
Lewontin, Richard C., 42
Liberman, Alvin, 148–49
“Library of Babel, The” (Borges), 11–12, 14
Lieberman, Daniel, 165
Linguistic Society of Paris, 40, 49
lipreading, 156. See also speech; words
Locke, John L., 98
Loftus, Elizabeth, 66
logic: and religion, 26; and space, 184; vs. stories, 188
Lyn, Heidi, 135
Macaulay, Thomas Babbington, 32, 207n13
MacDonald, John, 156
Machiavelli, Niccolo, 92
Machiavellian loop, 92
MacNeilage, Peter, 160
magic, belief in, 107, 111–13, 115. See also religion
Maxim of Quantity, 82. See also Grice, Paul
McBrearty, Sally, 38
McBride, Glen, 142–43
McCarthy, Robert, 164
McGurk, Harry, 156
Mellars, Sir Paul, 36
memory: auditory memory, 150, 222n11; autobiographical memory, 63, 102; capacity of, 176–78; and concept of self, 65, 75; for concepts, 176; consolidation of, 76; episodic memory, 65–66, 73–74, 102, 178; false memories, 66; of Google, 59; and hippocampus, 73–76, 102, 177, 184; and imagining the future, 66–68, 71, 74, 79; and language, 150, 188; limitations of, 19–20; and mental time travel, 66–67; and mind wandering, 65; semantic memory, 65–66, 74; for sounds, 150; for stock phrases, 19–20; whether uniquely human, 66–72; working memory, 53. See also mental time travel
mental time travel: in animals, 66–75; extension of episodic memory, 66–67; and hippocampus, 73–78, 177; and recursion, 43, 55; and stories, 56; whether uniquely human, 33, 67–72, 76–78. See also future thinking; memory
Meunier, Helène, 134
Milne, A. A., 97
mime: in apes, 137–39; and brain, 143; conventionalization of, 194; in cross-language communication, 142; in early Pleistocene, 194; holistic nature of, 179; and language, 154, 173; mime artists, 106, 127, 142; mimetic culture, 142, 176; and mirror system, 130; as origin of sign language, 5, 18, 127–28, 143–46; and speech, 158, 161, 171; and stories, 106, 142–43, 194; and tools, 185; and words, 174, 179. See also language evolution; mirror neurons
mindfulness, 65
mind reading. See theory of mind
mind wandering: in animals, 69–72, 75–77, 82; and creativity, 64; and default-mode network, 63, 75; and dreaming, 64, and fantasy, 63; and fiction, 63; and hippocampus, 76–77; and I-language, 80; memory, 65; negative aspects, 64–65. See also default mode network; mental time travel
miniaturization, 158, 195. See also speech
minimalism. See under grammar
mirror neurons: and area F5, 129–30; autism, 128; critique of, 152; and displacement, 130; and dorsal system, 152; and empathy, 128; and FOXP2 gene, 166; gestural theory, 128; and grasping, 129; in human brain, 130; and imitation, 128; and intentionality, 191; and language, 129–30; and language areas (Broca’s and Wernicke’s areas), 129–30; as learned, 22n9; and mime, 130; and motor theory of speech perception, 149–50; and schizophrenia, 128; and sound, 150; and symbols, 143; and vocalization, 150
mirror system, 129–30, 143, 150, 152, 166, 191. See also mirror neurons
Molaison, Henry (H.M.), 74
Morgan, Elaine, 95
Moser, Edvard I., 76–77, 79, 213n54
Moser, May-Britt, 76–77, 79, 213n54
Müller, Friedrich Max, 3–4, 40
natural selection: See under evolution
Neandertals: brain size of, 34, 96; common ancestry with, 34, 169; as distinct from humans, 36, 169–71, 226n82; extinction of, 35–36, 96, 160, 200; and FOXP2 gene, 166–67; genetic make-up, 35, 37, 94; and hunting technology, 38, 185; mating with humans, 35, 37; the question of sign language in, 146, 163–64; the question of speech in, 164–71
Nietzsche, Frederich, 125
Nikolaïdes, Kimon, 127
Niles, John, 102
Oatley, Keith, 103–4
Odyssey (Homer), 110
Oldowan, The, 185–86
On the Origin of Species (Darwin), 1
Origins of the Human Mind (Donald), 142
ostensive-referential. See under language
Osvath, Mathias, 72
Owen, Richard, 72–73
Paley, William, 28
Pandya, Deepak, N., 151
pantomime. See mime
Petkov, Christopher, 133
Petrides, Michael, 151
Pfeiffer, John E., 169
Philological Society of London, 40
pidgins, 182–83
Pinker, Steven, 31–32, 44–45, 47–48, 57, 61–62, 131, 153, 173, 178, 206n16, 226n5
Plato, 145
play: in adults, 105; in animals, 104; in birds, 104; in children, 104–5; chimpanzees, 90; play acting, 101; play-fighting, 104; as stories, 103–4
Pleistocene: and aquatic features, 96; and brain size, 48, 94, 99, 176, 193; and carnivorous animals, 91; and coastal habitat, 96; dangerous predators, of, 193; dating of, 48, 91; and genus Homo, 94, 98; and language, 186, 193; and mime, 194; and social intelligence, 99; and tools, 184–86
Plutarch, 189
Poeppel, David, 151
pointing: as communication, 85; in infants, 8–9, 90, 134; as precursor to language, 134–35; in primates, 9, 80, 134–36, 140, 163; and requesting, 140; right-hand preference in, 134; and sharing, 139; universality of, 124, 217n1. See also gesture
Pollick, Amy, 136
Povinelli, Daniel, 88–89, 207n2
Premack, David, 28, 87, 89, 93–94, 132
Prometheus, 30, 44, 49, 53, 166–67
Provine, Robert, 157
punctuated evolution. See under evolution
Question of Animal Awareness, The (Griffin), 70
Quilliam, Susan, 119
Quintilian, 121
Racine, Timothy, 138
Ramachandran, Vilayanur, 128, 153–54
Rand, David, G., 93
Rankin, Ian, 117–18
Reagan, Ronald, 65
religion: adaptiveness of, 114; dark side of, 114; and Neolithic revolution, 114; and recursion, 114; vs. science, 113–15. See also stories
ribena, 10
Rico (border collie), 33, 136, 151, 175, 191, 227n7
Roebroeks, Wil, 169
romantic fiction: and feminism, 119; formula of, 118; popularity of, 118–19, 217n36; as rape fantasy, 118; varieties of, 119. See also stories
Rousseau, Jean-Jacques, 124–25, 127–28
Rovelli, Carlo, 64
Rubicon, the, 3, 23, 28, 30, 80, 112, 155, 189, 200, 203
Ruhlen, Merritt, 180
Sassoon, Siegfried, 61
Saussure, Ferdinand de, 152
Scott-Phillips, Thom, 84, 90, 192, 214n6
scrambling languages, 181. See also languages
second-language learning, 4, 7. See also languages
“Secret Life of Walter Mitty” (Thurber), 63–64
sentences: ambiguity of, 84; connectionist modelling of, 21; and context, 84; data oriented parsing model (DOP), 20; discrete infinity and, 11, 19; embedding of phrases in, 12–14; and episodes, 177–78, 187; function words in, 174; generation of, 4, 10, 36; grammar of, 21–22, 59; grammaticalization in, 181–83; length of, 18–19; psychological limits on, 13, 18, 185; recursion in. 19, 21; rules for, 11, 20; single-word sentences, 16; storage of, 20; and stories, 198–99; translation of, 197; unbounded Merge, 29; word order in, 180–81. See also grammar; languages
serial founder effect, 201
Seyfarth, Robert M., 175
Shaw, George Bernard, 5
sign language: in African tribes, 159; as agglutinative, 18; antiquity of, 145; autonomy of, 197; brain activity in, 143; conventionalization in, 144–45, 154; 171, 179; in the deaf, 106; and Deaf culture, 159; diversity of, 5; ease of learning, 163; facial movements in, 155; as Gallaudet University, 126; and gesture, 8, 163; in great apes, 6, 48, 133, 136; in hunter-gatherers,159; iconic elements in, 144, 154; in Neandertals, 146, 163–64; as origin of language, 126–28, 145–46; physiological costs of, 158; rapid emergence of, 145–46; signed stories, 106; as symbolic, 172; as true language, 125–26, 128; word order in, 180; 179–80, 197, 199, 229n. See also mime
sign languages: Al-Sayyid Bedouin Sign Language, 146; American Sign language, 126, 144; Nicaraguan Sign Language, 145–46, 179. See also languages
Simon, Herbert, 58
Skinner, Burrhus Frederick, x, 10–11, 21–22, 68
Skyrms, Brian, 92
Slit-Robo RhoGTPase-activating protein 2 (SRGAP2) gene, 94, 215n31. See also genes
Slobin, Dan, 62
social intelligence, 91–94, 97, 99
Socrates, 145
Speaking Our Minds (Scott-Phillips), 84, 192
speech: and animal vocalizations, 130; and aquatic ape hypothesis, 162; arbitrariness, myth of, 152, 162, 171; babbling, 8, 41; brain areas in, 143; and breathing, 43; Broca’s aphasia, 151; and choking, 164; and conventionalization, 154, 170, 195; and descent of larynx, 164; dominance of, 125, 16; emergence of, 121, 124; as energy efficient, 158, 171, 195, 229n6; evolution of, 41; and FOXP2 mutation, 165–69; and freeing of the eyes, 158–59; and freeing of the hands, 158, 171; gestural accompaniment, 124–26, 148, 157, 161, 195; as gesture, 148, 152, 156; in great apes, 127; iconic elements of, 152–54; as invention, 195; and laughter, 156–57; vs. mime, 127; as miniaturization, 158, 195; mutation of, 171; and Neandertals, 37, 163–64, 167–70; origins of, 144; in parrots, 41; parts of, 31, 179, 182, 187; and pedagogy, 170; phonemes, 50–51; rhythmicity of, 161; vs. sign language, 124–25; and social status, 51; structure of, 18, 29; subvocal, 57; and vocal tract, 165; and voluntary control, 133, 157, 162. See also language; speech perception
speech perception: by apes, 33, 150; by babies, 151; by computers, 149; by dogs, 33, 150, 175; dual-stream theory, 151; and fast mapping, 175; lipreading, 156; and mirror neurons, 149–50, 152; motor theory of, 148–49, 223n15. See also speech
Spelke, Elizabeth, 32
Spenser, Edmund, 18
Sperber, Dan, 82
Sterelny, Kim, 93
Stokoe, William C., 128
stories: and animals, 112–13; children’s stories, 104–5, 112–13,120; crime stories, 104, 115–18; as distinctively human, 29, 62, 100, 102, 131, 198; epic tales, 108–10; and episodes, 171, 187; and fantasy, 103–5, 117–19; and fire, 106; and folklore, 107–8; and future adaptation, 104–5; and gesture, 106; Gilgamesh, Epic of, 108–9; and hunter-gatherers, 106, 109, 142–43, 194; and imagination, 103, 196; and indigenous Australians, 107; and language, 56, 172, 196, 198, 200; and Maori, 107–8; media of, 56, 62, 107; and mental time travel, 101–2; mimed, 142, 194; as mode of thinking, 101, 187–88; during night, 106–7; as play, 104–5, 196; and religion, 110–15, 199; romantic fiction, 118–19; and the self, 102; and social reform, 119–20; and social world, 103; structure of, 199; superhuman elements, 109–12, 120; and theory of mind, 101, 103–4; time sequence in, 102
Stout, Dietrich, 185
Suddendorf, Thomas, 66–68, 207n2
Syntactic Structures (Chomsky), x, 11, 21
Szathmàry, Eörs, 198
Tennyson, Alfred, Lord, 193
theory of mind: in animals, 85–91; in children, 98; and cognitive niche, 9, 193; and cooperation, 92–93, 193; and fiction, 103–4; and genetic change, 37; and hunting, 92; and language, 56, 81–85, 192; and magic, 112–13; and recursion, 43, 93, 113; and religion, 113; and social intelligence, 91–94
Thurber, James, 63
Tomasello, Michael, 18, 89, 135, 138–39, 145–46, 192, 206n27
Traugott, Elizabeth, 183
Tulving, Endel, 65–67
Turing test, the, 58–59
unbounded Merge, 29–31, 43, 49, 139, 185, 187–88, 190, 199, 207n6, 228n33. See also Chomsky, Noam; grammar; sentences
underdeterminacy. See under languages
universal grammar, 14–18, 20–21, 29–31, 45–46, 48–49, 166, 190, 202, 206n27. See also Chomsky, Noam; grammar; I-language
Verbal Behavior (Skinner), x, 10–11, 21
Verhaegen, Mark, 95–96, 162, 164
Villa, Paola, 169
vocal learning, 131
Volterra, Virginia, 134
Vrba, Elizabeth S., 42
Wallace, Alfred Russel, 27–28
Water Babies, The (Charles Kingsley), 72
Watson, John B., 57
Wearing, Clive, 73–75
Wearing, Deborah, 74
West, Mae, 87
Westenhöfer, Max, 94
Whitehead, Alfred North, 10
Whorf, Benjamin Lee, 173
Whorfian hypothesis, 173
Wilcox, Sherman, 128
Wild children: in fiction, 6; Genie, 6–7
Williams, George C., 45
Wilson, David Sloan, 114
Wilson, Deirdre, 82
words: abstract vs. concrete, 176, 187; in animals, 33, 150, 175, 227n8; as arbitrary (or not), 33, 152–56, 171, 195; articulation of, 25, 50, 148–49; and baby talk, 8; categories of, 16, 18, 45, 174, 176–77, 179; computer recognition of, 149; and conventionalization, 195; and displacement, 33; diversity of, 196, 201; emergence of, 134; fast mapping, 175; frequency of, 195; function words, 181–82; and gestures, 160; iconic component, 142, 144–45, 152, 154, 161, 173, 187, 194–96; inflections of, 52, 182, 197; lipreading of, 156; mapping to concepts, 15–18, 26, 45, 52, 58–59, 143, 172–74; memory for, 150; merging of, 29; multiple meanings of, 61; in parrots, 6; signs as, 8, 123; store of, 21, 30, 32, 150, 175–76, 201; stringing of, 9–11, 13, 30, 45, 178, 180–81, 190, 197; structure of, 226n1; as symbols, 143, 227n8; and thought, 57–59, 62. See also language
Wray, Alison, 19
Wurzburg School, 60
X and Y chromosomes. See Crow, Timothy J.
Zubrow, Ezra, 160