Computational Phenotypes

Towards an Evolutionary Developmental Biolinguistics

Sergio Balari, Guillermo Lorenzo (Autoren)

Buch | Softcover

256 Seiten

2012
Oxford University Press (Verlag)
978-0-19-966547-1 (ISBN)

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This book, written accessibly for both biologists and linguists, argues that language is not as exceptional a human trait as some linguists believe it to be. It is rather, according to the authors, just the human version of a fairly common and conservative organic system, the Central Computational Complex.

This book confronts the hotly debated claim that language is a species specific trait of humans. It also considers the notion that disentangling the evolutionary history of language is one of science's hardest problems. Building on the recent conceptual breakthroughs of the EvoDevo paradigm, Balari and Lorenzo argue that language is not so exceptional after all. It is, rather, just the human version of a fairly common and conservative organic system which they call the Central Computational Complex. The authors also propose that interspecies variation of this organ is restricted to (i) accessible memory resources, and (ii) patterns of external connectivity, both being the result of perturbations on the system underlying its development. The book, written accessibly for both biologists and linguists, offers a fresh perspective on language as a naturally evolved phenomenon.

Sergio Balari is a Professor of Linguistics at Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona and Guillermo Lorenzo is Professor of Linguistics at Universidad de Oviedo. They are members of an interuniversity team currently working on the developmental basis and evolutionary origins of language, with funds provided by the Spanish Government and FEDER. Sergio Balari is also a member of the Centre de Lingüística Teòrica (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona). They have coauthored several articles in leading journals such as Biolinguistics, Biological Theory and International Journal of Evolutionary Biology.

1. The Pains of Being Owenians/Chomskyans/Cartesians at heart ; 2. My Beloved Monster ; 3. The Dead End of Communication ; 4. On True Homologues ; 5. Computational Homology ; 6. Introducing Computational Evo Devo ; 7. Other Minds ; 8. Conclusions ; Appendix ; References ; Index

Erscheint lt. Verlag	13.12.2012
Reihe/Serie	Oxford Studies in Biolinguistics
Zusatzinfo	Figures
Verlagsort	Oxford
Sprache	englisch
Maße	170 x 233 mm
Gewicht	400 g
Themenwelt	Geisteswissenschaften ► Philosophie ► Sprachphilosophie
	Geisteswissenschaften ► Sprach- / Literaturwissenschaft ► Sprachwissenschaft
	Naturwissenschaften ► Biologie
ISBN-10	0-19-966547-8 / 0199665478
ISBN-13	978-0-19-966547-1 / 9780199665471
Zustand	Neuware