This book proposes a radically evolutionary approach to biolinguistics that consists in considering human language as a form of species-specific intelligence entirely embodied in the corporeal structures of Homo sapiens. The book starts with a historical reconstruction of two opposing biolinguistic models: the Chomskian Biolinguistic Model (CBM) and the Darwinian Biolinguistic Model (DBM). The second part compares the two models and develops into a complete reconsideration of the traditional biolinguistic issues in an evolutionary perspective, highlighting their potential influence on the paradigm of biologically oriented cognitive science. The third part formulates the philosophical, evolutionary and experimental basis of an extended theory of linguistic performativity within a naturalistic perspective of pragmatics of verbal language.
The book proposes a model in which the continuity between human and non-human primates is linked to the gradual development of the articulatory and neurocerebral structures, and to a kind of prelinguistic pragmatics which characterizes the common nature of social learning. In contrast, grammatical, semantic and pragmatic skills that mark the learning of historical-natural languages are seen as a rapid acceleration of cultural evolution. The book makes clear that this acceleration will not necessarily favour the long-term adaptations for Homo sapiens.
Acknowledgements.- 1. Introduction.- Part one – History and state of the art.- 2. Chomsky and Biolinguistics.- 3. The last Chomsky and the Evolutionary Perspective.- 3.1. The Externalization Devices.- 3.2. Computational Processes of the Linguistic mind.- 3.3. A Micromutation and in an instant is the God-Language.- 4. The Update of the Biolinguistics Agenda.- 4.1. A kind of Evo-Devo Account.- 4.2. Contemporary Revisionism.- 5. Another Biolinguistics History: from Aristotle to Darwin and Broca.- 5.1. A Mindless Biolinguistics: Aristotle.- 5.2. Vico and the Origins of the “lingue mutole”.- 5.3. From Darwin to Darwin.- 5.4. Resistances and Resilience: the Watershed of Neuroscience.- Part two – Towards a Darwinian Biolinguistics.- 6. Comparing two models: CBM vs DBM.- 7. The Nature of the Species-specificity of Human Language.- 7.1. The Cognitive Constraints of Language.- 7.2. The Technomorphic thought.- 7.3. The Bodily Technology of Language.- 8. Genetic Fundamentals.- 8.1. The Genetics of a Sapiens.- 8.1.1. The FOXP2.- 8.1.1.1. The FOXP2 in Evolution.- 8.1.2. Genes Selected to become Humans.- 8.1.3. Genes lost to become Humans.- 8.1.4. From Individuals to Population.- 9. Morphological Fundamentals.- 9.1. The Vocal Tact and Productive Specificity.- 9.2. The Specificity of Auditory Perception.- 9.3. The Biological Feedback Hearing-voice.- 9.4. Interpretation of the data.- 9.4.1. Ethological Specialization of Sensory Cortices.- 9.4.2. Neuroscientific Evidence in Bilateral Ablations of Auditory Cortex.- 10. Neurocerebral Fundamentals.- 10.1. Methodological issues.- 10.2. Modularisms.- 10.3. Networks for Language.- 10.4. Broca’s area: A new Processor for Neural Binding.- 10.5. Evolving Broca’s Functions.- Part three – Extended Performativity: From Brain Plasticity to Linguistic Pragmatics.- 11. Performance.- 11.1. Definition, Development and Application of the term.- 11.2. Performativity and Brain Plasticity.- 12. Functional Plasticity.- 12.1. Ontogeny and Structures of Plasticity.- 12.2. Physiology and Pathology of Plasticity.- 13. Evolutionary Plasticity.- 13.1. The Chrono-logical Causalism.- 13.2. The brain tenant of the body.- 13.3. Plasticity, Innovation and re-use in Evo-Devo.- 14. Bio-linguistic Plasticity and Origin of Language.- 14.1. The Mechanical Trigger: when possible Speakers are Selected?.- 14.2. A wild ride 14.3. Natural selection, Cultural Evolution and The Price of Language.- 15. The Boundaries of Biolinguistics.- 15.1. Biolinguistics of Performance.- 15.2. Performative Bootstrapping in Ontogenetic Development.- 16. Pragmatics and Biolinguistics.- 16.1. From Pragmatics to Cognitive Performativity 16.1.1. The Dichotomies of Contemporary Pragmatics.- 16.1.2. Explicit and Implicit Culturalist Approaches.- 16.1.3. Examples of Evolutionary Pragmatics.- 16.2. Pragmatics as a Stabilization of Performative Process.- Bibliography
This book proposes a radically evolutionary approach to biolinguistics that consists in considering human language as a form of species-specific intelligence entirely embodied in the corporeal structures of Homo sapiens. The book starts with a historical reconstruction of two opposing biolinguistic models: the Chomskian Biolinguistic Model (CBM) and the Darwinian Biolinguistic Model (DBM). The second part compares the two models and develops into a complete reconsideration of the traditional biolinguistic issues in an evolutionary perspective, highlighting their potential influence on the paradigm of biologically oriented cognitive science. The third part formulates the philosophical, evolutionary and experimental basis of an extended theory of linguistic performativity within a naturalistic perspective of pragmatics of verbal language.
The book proposes a model in which the continuity between human and non-human primates is linked to the gradual development of the articulatory and neurocerebral structures, and to a kind of prelinguistic pragmatics which characterizes the common nature of social learning. In contrast, grammatical, semantic and pragmatic skills that mark the learning of historical-natural languages are seen as a rapid acceleration of cultural evolution. The book makes clear that this acceleration will not necessarily favour the long-term adaptations for Homo sapiens.
Adopts a unique perspective for analyzing the nature and origin of language, and the biology of language
Opens up a new evolutionary scenario in which structural and functional aspects of language are unified by biological constraints
Offers a new and radically evolutionary approach to biolinguistics
