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Language evolution as cultural evolution: how language is shaped by the brain.
| Content Provider | Semantic Scholar |
|---|---|
| Author | Chater, Nick Christiansen, Morten H. |
| Copyright Year | 2010 |
| Abstract | This paper reviews arguments against the evolutionary plausibility of a traditional genetically specified universal grammar. We argue that no such universal grammar could have evolved, either by a process of natural selection or by other evolutionary mechanisms. Instead, we propose that the close fit between languages and language learners, which make language acquisition possible, arises not because humans possess a specialized biological adaptation for language, but because language has been shaped to fit the brain, a process of cultural evolution. On this account, many aspects of the structure of human languages may be explained as cultural adaptations to the human brain. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. For further resources related to this article, please visit the WIREs website. |
| Starting Page | 623 |
| Ending Page | 628 |
| Page Count | 6 |
| File Format | PDF HTM / HTML |
| DOI | 10.1002/wcs.85 |
| PubMed reference number | 26271649 |
| Journal | Medline |
| Volume Number | 1 |
| Issue Number | 5 |
| Alternate Webpage(s) | http://cnl.psych.cornell.edu/pubs/2010-cc-WIREs-CogSci.pdf |
| Alternate Webpage(s) | https://doi.org/10.1002/wcs.85 |
| Journal | Wiley interdisciplinary reviews. Cognitive science |
| Language | English |
| Access Restriction | Open |
| Content Type | Text |
| Resource Type | Article |
