The Language Myth · Why Language Is Not an Instinct by Evans, Vyvyan -- Read -- Imperial Library of Trantor

Index

Half title page Title page Copyright page Dedication Epigraph Contents Acknowledgements 1 Language and mind rethought

Taking stock of language Myths and realities A straw man? Lessons from evolution

2 Is human language unrelated to animal communication systems?

From busy bees to startling starlings Communication in the wild Talking animals Design features for language But wherefore ‘design features’? All in the mind of the beholder Of chimps and men

3 Are there language universals?

Linguistic diversity: a whistle-stop tour Universal Grammar meets (linguistic) reality Lessons from linguistic typology So, how and why does language change? The myth of Proto-world Adieu, Universal Grammar

4 Is language innate?

An instinct for language? Arguments for the language instinct Lessons from neurobiology Lessons from language learning So how do children learn language? Towards a theory of language learning Learning what to say … from what isn’t said But couldn’t language emerge all at once? It’s all about language use!

5 Is language a distinct module in the mind?

On grammar genes and chatterboxes The chatterbox fallacy Alas, poor Darwin So, what’s the alternative to modularity? What’s all the fuss anyway?

6 Is there a universal Mentalese?

Mentalese and the computational mind Wherefore meaning? Fodor’s retort Intelligent bodies, embodied minds Metaphors we live by Embodiment effects in the brain So, where does this leave us?

7 Is thought independent of language?

Who’s afraid of the big bad Whorf? The rise of the Sapir−Whorf hypothesis Born to colour the world? The neo-Whorfian critique Lessons from Rossel Island Colour through the eyes of a child Pinker’s broadside Greek Blues All about sex On time and space What is linguistic relativity anyway?

8 Language and mind regained

Cultural intelligence and the ratchet effect The human interaction engine The rise of language What does our mental grammar look like? Universal scenes of experience Why are there so many languages? One final reflection …

Notes References Index