The Evolution of Language - Brossura

Fitch, W. Tecumseh

Brossura

ISBN 10: 052167736X ISBN 13: 9780521677363

Casa editrice: Cambridge University Press, 2010

Riassunto

Language, more than anything else, is what makes us human. It appears that no communication system of equivalent power exists elsewhere in the animal kingdom. Any normal human child will learn a language based on rather sparse data in the surrounding world, while even the brightest chimpanzee, exposed to the same environment, will not. Why not? How, and why, did language evolve in our species and not in others? Since Darwin's theory of evolution, questions about the origin of language have generated a rapidly-growing scientific literature, stretched across a number of disciplines, much of it directed at specialist audiences. The diversity of perspectives - from linguistics, anthropology, speech science, genetics, neuroscience and evolutionary biology - can be bewildering. Tecumseh Fitch cuts through this vast literature, bringing together its most important insights to explore one of the biggest unsolved puzzles of human history.

Su questo libro

Recensione:

'The evolution of language has been described as the hardest problem in science, fraught with conflict, entrenched views, and misunderstandings between the multifarious disciplines involved. Fitch guides us through this tangled and often treacherous domain with clarity, equanimity, and encyclopedic reach. No other book so completely, fairly, and eloquently presents contemporary notions as to how language evolved.' Michael Corballis, University of Auckland

'Reconstructing the evolution of language is a daunting task but Tecumseh Fitch brings it off with style. An impressive synthesis.' Robert Seyfarth, Department of Psychology, University of Pennsylvania

'Tecumseh Fitch's book reads like a novel, telling the story of the long and complex search for a theory of language evolution very clearly and engagingly ... comprehensive, analytic, and fair.' Merlin Donald, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario

Descrizione del libro:

Since Darwin's theory of evolution, questions about the origin of language have generated a rapidly-growing scientific literature. Tecumseh Fitch cuts through this vast literature, bringing together its most important insights to explore one of the biggest unsolved puzzles of human history.

Su questa edizione

• Editore: Cambridge University Press
• Data di pubblicazione: 2010
• ISBN 10: 052167736X
• ISBN 13: 9780521677363
• Rilegatura: Copertina flessibile
• Numero edizione: 1
• Numero di pagine: 624