Language Evolution

Chomsky vs. Darwin: Debates on Universal Grammar, the Origin of Language, and Evolution
1. Introduction
2. What Does the “Chomsky Revolution” Mean?
3. History of “Universal Grammar”
4. Why Is There “Universal Grammar” according to Chomsky?
5. Darwin and Evolution of Language
6. “Cartesian Evolution” and Chomsky
7. Fundamentals of Chomsky's “Evolution Model”
8. Dissidents of the "Dissident": Criticizing Chomsky
8.1. A Challenge from Philosophy: Hilary W. Putnam
8.2. “The Generative Semantics Wars”: Jerrold J. Katz, Paul M. Postal, George Lakoff, Pieter Seuren, and Robert D. Levine
8.3. Philip Lieberman: “Chomskyan Linguistics Is a Worldwide Religion!”
8.4. Michael Corballis: “Chomsky, God and Language”
8.5. Michael Tomasello: “Universal Grammar Is Dead.”
8.6. Geoffrey Sampson: “Linguistics Isn't a Science!”
8.7. “Empirical Re-Assessment of Stimulus Poverty Arguments” and Geoffrey K. Pullum
8.8. Parting Paths with Derek Bickerton
8.9. "Windows" and Rudolf Botha
8.10. James Hurford: “It's Science, Not Fairy Tale!”
8.11. Chris Knight and "Decoding Chomsky"
8.12. Terrence W. Deacon: “Chomsky’s Handstand!”
8.13. Steven Pinker and "Natural Language and Natural Selection"
8.14. “The Inside Story of the Negotiation in 2002”: Tecumseh Fitch
8.15. The Man Who Came from the Amazonian Jungle: Daniel Everett and Pirahã
8.16. Simon Kirby, Morten Christiansen and Nick Chater: "The Hardest Problem in Science"
8.17. Nicholas Evans, Stephen C. Levinson and Dan Dediu: “Universality Is a Myth!”
8.18. Vyvyan Evans: “Language Is Not Instinct!”
8.19. “Chomsky, Fundamentalists” and Sverker Johansson
8.20. Cedric Boeckx: “Not With One Mutation!”
8.21. “Greenbergian Tradition” and Martin Haspelmath
8.22. Margaret Boden's “A History of Cognitive Science”
8.23. Christina Behme and Criticisms of Cartesian Linguistics
8.24. Ewa Dąbrowska: “Has Anyone Seen Universal Grammar?”
8.25. Francis Lin: “This Method Is Wrong!”
8.26. Other Critics and Ayhan Sezer
9. Conflict Points
10. Waiting for the Martians: Is Universal Grammar Dead?
11. Chomsky: “With His Merits and Sins”
12. Conclusion
13. Appendices
14. Bibliography
15. Index

This study aims at providing a possible model for linguistic representation, whose structure is able to describe the effects on sign’s indeterminacy (vagueness, ambiguities) and the dynamic nature of the system. In order to display the different ways of conceiving a linguistic system, various versions of the idea of "giving an order to the structures", that build up a theory, is taken into account: the Cartesian theory of generative grammar, the non-Euclidean one of hypertext networks, the complexity in genetic epistemology and in Jean Piaget’s cognitive development theory, and finally the theory of linguistic change by the language biologist Eric Lenneberg.

Scopo di questo studio è il tentativo di ipotizzare un modello di rappresentazione linguistica, la cui struttura sia capace di descrivere gli effetti dell'indeterminatezza del segno (vaghezza, ambiguità) e la dinamicità del sistema. Per mostrare differenti possibilità di concepire astrattamente un sistema linguistico, si considerano versioni diverse del concetto di “ordine delle strutture”: il sistema cartesiano nella grammatica generativa, la geometria non euclidea nelle reti ipertestuali, la (teoria della )complessità nella teoria dello sviluppo psicogenetico di Jean Piaget e nella teoria del mutamento del biolinguista Eric Lenneberg.

This project proposes that language evolve through reinforcement learning where agents communicate with each other and provide rewards if communication is successful. The fundamental difference between the learning mechanisms that humans use to communicate with one another and how machines learn to communicate is that the system used by humans presupposes that the adult already knows the meanings associated with the human language. Languages evolve historically to be optimal communication systems where human language learning mechanisms have evolved in order to learn these systems more efficiently. Machines in their learning of natural language, have to start at a place that humans mastered thousands of years ago. Uttering previously unheard signals and collectively establishing meaning. The question that this paper deals with is how can a communication system evolve if none of the conspirators have mastered the system previously using evolutionary computation and reinforcement lear...

“語言與現代化”學術研討會
  2017年10月18-20日，澳門

主旨演講：
論語言與認知的跨學科研究成果與趨勢
—— 以工作記憶為視角

溫植勝博士、副教授
澳門理工學院語言暨翻譯學校

【摘要】：本文的目的旨在展示國內外認知科學界和語言學界圍繞工作記憶與語言學習所展開的跨學科研究所取得的最新成果，並藉此對今後的相關研究做出展望。文章首先扼要回顧總結認知（神經）科學界對工作記憶進行的多層面本體研究，然後將這些研究成果與語言學界研究界近年探討工作記憶對語言學習不同方面影響作用的實證研究結果想結合，繼而提出一個工作記憶與語言習得的創新性理論假設與研究框架。文章將結合現有的研究成果著重對今後的相關研究提出多方面的具體建議。



【演講者簡介】：溫植勝博士，現為澳門理工學院語言暨翻譯高等學校副教授，中國英漢語比較研究會心理語言學專業委員會理事。香港中文大學應用語言學博士，美國密歇根大學訪問研究學者。任教於粵港澳多所重點高校本科和研究生課程多年，在國內外重要學術期刊發表論文30多篇；近年致力於語言習得與認知科學等交叉學科的理論與實踐研究，其英文學術專著（2016）和編著（2015）由英國著名的Multilingual Matters出版。曾獲語言學界國際頂尖期刊《語言學習》2012年度頒發的“《語言學習》期刊圓桌會議專項研究基金”獎項資助。
(Contact: (853)8599-6389; Email: edwardwen@ipm.edu.mo)

Het raadsel van de spraakverwarring is een eeuwenoude, maar nog steeds actuele kwestie, die veel mensen proberen op te lossen en waardoor veel mensen geïntrigeerd raken. Waarom spreken we wereldwijd niet gewoon één taal? Hoeveel talen zijn er überhaupt ter wereld? Waarom verschillen ze van elkaar en welke overeenkomsten zijn er daartussen?

Authors describe a hyoid bone body, without horns, attributed to Homo erectus from Castel di Guido (Rome, Italy), dated to about 400,000 years BP. The hyoid bone body shows the bar-shaped morphology characteristic of Homo, in con- trast to the bulla-shaped body morphology of African apes and Australopithecus. Its measurements differ from those of the only known complete specimens from other extinct human species and early hominid (Kebara Neandertal and Au- stralopithecus afarensis), and from the mean values observed in modern humans. The almost total absence of muscular impressions on the body's ventral surface suggests a reduced capability for elevating this hyoid bone and modulating the length of the vocal tract in Homo erectus. The shield-shaped body, the probable small size of the greater horns and the ra- diographic image appear to be archaic characteristics; they reveal some similarities to non-humans and pre-human gen- era, suggesting that the morphological basis for hum...

Many of the issues that confront designers of interactive computer systems also appear in natural language evolution. Natural languages and human-computer interfaces share as their primary mission the support of extended ''dialogues'' between responsive entities. Because in each case one participant is a human being, some of the pressures operating on natural languages, causing them to evolve in order to better support such dialogue, also operate on human-computer ''languages'' or interfaces. This does not necessarily push interfaces in the direction of natural language - since one entity in this dialogue is not a human, this is not to be expected. Nonetheless, by discerning where the pressures that guide natural language evolution also appear in human-computer interaction, we can contribute to the design of computer systems and obtain a new perspective on natural languages.

Isinagawa ang riserts tungkol sa Mga Kwentong CoViD: Pag-usbong ng mga bagong salita sa new normal sa bayan ng Roxas, Isabela.
Nilayon ng isinagawang riserts na matukoy ang mga bagong salitang umusbong sa panahong new normal, ang kahulugan ng mga umusbong na bagong salita sa new normal, matukoy ang mga kaisipan o temang nangibabaw base sa mga umusbong na mga bagong salita, matukoy ang pamamaraan ng pagkakabuo ng mga salitang umusbong at ang taglay na kultural na pagpapahalaga ng mga salitang ito sa diskurso.
Ginamit ang mga talatanungang binalido ng tagapayo at ng mga miyembro ng lupon ng tagasuri at pagkatapos ay isinagawa ang interbyu sa tatlong guro, tatlong mag-aaral at tatlong nasa medikal na larangan at ginamit ang thematic analysis sa pag-aanalisa ng mga nakalap na mga datos. Ginamit ang Critical Discourse Analysis bilang metodo sa pag-aaral.
Batay sa resulta ng riserts, nakabuo ng glosaryo ang risertser mula sa mga umusbong na mga bagong salita. Napag-alaman din na ang paraan ng pagkakabuo ng mga salitang ito ay sa pamamagitan ng paggamit ng akronim, pagpapaikli, jargon, register, at pagkilala sa kumpanya.
Ang mga kaisipan o temang nangibabaw base sa mga salitang umusbong sa panahon ng pandemya ay: ang wika ay buhay o dinamiko, ang wika at lipunan ay magkaugnay, ang paggamit ng wikang Ingles sa larangan ng agham, edukasyon, siyensiya, at teknolohiya, Pagpapahalaga sa Edukasyon at Pagpapahalaga sa Kalusugan. Ang mga taglay na kultural na pagpapahalaga ng mga salitang ito sa diskurso ay ang pagtutulungan (Binadangan) ng mga Pilipino, ang pagkakaroon ng disiplina at pagkamalikhain sa pagbuo ng mga salita.

Abstract: The argument I will develop in this essay is that the foreign students are a latent human resource who can assist with overcoming English monolingualism in the Australian population. Foreign students, properly rewarded, can be a major source of skills transfer. Every one of those students is a walking compendium of language and cultural skills that Australians need to know.

Comic books have always had a mass cultural impact on their public, being part of pop culture for half a century. Comic book producers created superheroes that became icons all over the world. The main character discussed in this thesis is Batman: the Dark Knight, the Caped Crusader. Known by many names, Batman is one of the most important figures in the comic book world. In 78 years of publishing history, his creators have developed his character into a more and more realistic persona and created a very well-defined background. Many artists and writers have modified his behavior and his mood according to their own age, avoiding standard models and letting him abandon the stereotyped hero image.
All of these factors are reflected in language. Thus the aim of this thesis is not only to clarify these points, but also to analyze how they influenced the linguistic style of the characters in comic books, in particular in Batman comics. Their linguistic style also defines their personality; therefore this work aims to combine social identity with language.
Language and social life are always linked: language advances as the world progresses. History, philosophy, and science are all factors that influence human life, including of course communication.

This article applies the Dynamic Model (Schneider 2007) and the Extra-and Intra-territorial Forces (EIF) Model (Buschfeld & Kautzsch 2017; Buschfeld et al. 2018) to Standard English in Trinidad based on the findings of a large-scale attitude study. The results suggest that, in the educational domain in Trinidad, a multidimensional norm orientation with coexisting standards that incorporates exo-and endonormative tendencies is prevalent. The Dynamic Model is not fully able to explain the findings, but the EIF Model can account for this norm complexity. However, the assumption underlying both models that postcolonial Englishes prototypically achieve (full) endonormativity unless their development is stalled at an earlier stage or even reversed is unlikely to fully capture the norm developmental processes in Trinidad and other complex postcolonial speech communities. We therefore propose an extension of the EIF Model that, depending on the constellation, directionality, and continuity of different sets of forces, allows for multinormative stabilization as an alternative development. We also introduce translocality as an alternative theoretical framework for the conceptualization of forces and argue for a more comprehensive understanding of intra-varietal heterogeneity. An extended and modified version of the EIF Model that takes these further complexities into account can help explain the norm developments in highly complex postcolonial speech communities.

The central hypothesis in this book is that geolinguistic patterns depend highly on our evolved temperaments based on subsistence strategies, i.e. foraging, farming and pastoralism. On the surface, this may not make much sense, as most of our ancestors first were foragers and then farmers. However, genetic research has shown that we are exactly a mix of these three “tribes”, with varying genetic admixture.




I am arguing that most people fall into one of four temperaments based on subsistence: hunting, gathering, farming and herding. These subsistence strategies made an enormous difference on language dispersal and language change as each of them has got different dispersal patterns.

I argue that Cook et al.’s attack of the genetic hypothesis of mirror neurons misses its target because the authors miss the point that genetics may specify how neurons may learn, not what they learn. Paying more attention to recent work linking mirror neurons to language acquisition and evolution would strengthen Cook et al.’s arguments against a rigid genetic hypothesis.
published in BEHAVIORAL AND BRAIN SCIENCES (2014) 37, 192-193

This collection of articles was written over the last 10 years and edited them to bring them up to date (2017). The copyright page has the date of the edition and new editions will be noted there as I edit old articles or add new ones. All the articles are about human behavior (as are all articles by anyone about anything), and so about the limitations of having a recent monkey ancestry (8 million years or much less depending on viewpoint) and manifest words and deeds  within the framework of our innate psychology as presented in the table of intentionality.  As famous evolutionist Richard Leakey says, it is critical to keep in mind not that we evolved from apes, but that in every important way, we are apes.  If everyone was given a real understanding of this (i.e., of human ecology and psychology to actually give them some control over themselves), maybe civilization would have a chance.  As things are however the leaders of society have no more grasp of things than their constituents and so collapse into anarchy is inevitable.

The first group of articles attempt to give some insight into how we behave that is reasonably free of theoretical delusions. In the next three groups I comment on three of the principal delusions preventing a sustainable world— technology, religion and politics (cooperative groups). Certainly each has much of value, but as currently implemented, they are all band aids on the cancer of selfishness and stupidity, and as handmaidens of selfish genetics lead straight to Hell on Earth.

It is critical to understand why we behave as we do and so the first section presents articles that try to describe (not explain as Wittgenstein insisted) behavior.  I start with a brief review of the logical structure of rationality, which provides some heuristics for the description of language (mind, rationality, personality) and gives some suggestions as to how this relates to the evolution of social behavior.  This centers around the two writers I have found the most important in this regard, Ludwig Wittgenstein and John Searle, whose ideas I combine and extend within the dual system (two systems of thought) framework that has proven so useful in recent thinking and reasoning research. As I note, there is in my view essentially complete overlap between philosophy, in the strict sense of the enduring questions that concern the academic discipline, and the descriptive psychology of higher order thought (behavior). Once one has grasped Wittgenstein’s insight that there is only the issue of how the language game is to be played, one determines the Conditions of Satisfaction (what makes a statement true or satisfied etc.) and that is the end of the discussion.

The key to everything about us is biology, and it is obliviousness to it that leads millions of smart educated people like Obama, Chomsky, Clinton and the Pope to espouse suicidal utopian ideals that inexorably lead straight to Hell On Earth.  As W noted, it is what is always before our eyes that is the hardest to see.  We live in the world of conscious deliberative linguistic System 2, but it is unconscious, automatic reflexive System 1 that rules. This is the source of the universal blindness described by Searle’s The Phenomenological Illusion (TPI), Pinker’s Blank Slate and Tooby and Cosmides’ Standard Social Science Model.

The next section describes the digital delusions, which confuse the language games of System 2 with the automatisms of System one, and so cannot distinguish biological machines (i.e., people) from other kinds of machines (i.e., computers).  The ‘reductionist’ claim is that one can ‘explain’ behavior at a ‘lower’ level, but what actually happens is that one does not explain human behavior but a ‘stand in’ for it.  Hence the title of Searle’s classic review of Dennett’s book (“Consciousness Explained”)— “Consciousness Explained Away”.  In most contexts ‘reduction’ of higher level emergent behavior to brain functions, biochemistry, or physics is incoherent. Even for ‘reduction’ of chemistry or physics, the path is blocked by chaos and uncertainty.  Anything can be ‘represented’ by equations, but when they ‘represent’ higher order behavior, it is not clear (and cannot be made clear) what the ‘results’ mean.  Reductionist metaphysics is a joke, but most scientists and philosophers lack the appropriate sense of humor.

Other digital delusions are that we will be saved from the pure evil (selfishness) of System 1 by computers/AI/robotics/ nanotech/genetic engineering created by System 2.  The No Free Lunch principal tells us there will be serious and possibly fatal consequences.  The adventurous may regard this principle as a higher order emergent expression of the Second Law of Thermodynamics. Hi-tech enthusiasts hugely underestimate the problems resulting from unrestrained motherhood, and of course it is neither profitable nor politically correct (and now with third world supremacism dominant, not even possible) to be honest about it.

The last section describes The One Big Happy Family Delusion , i.e., that we are selected for cooperation with everyone, and that the euphonious ideals of Democracy, Diversity and Equality  will lead us into utopia, if we just manage things correctly (the possibility of politics).  Again, the No Free Lunch Principle ought to warn us it cannot be true, and we see throughout history and all over the contemporary world, that without strict controls, selfishness and stupidity gain the upper hand and soon destroy any nation that embraces it. In addition, the monkey mind steeply discounts the future, and so we cooperate in selling our descendant’s heritage for temporary comforts, greatly exacerbating the problems.

I describe versions of this delusion (i.e., that we are basically ‘friendly’ if just given a chance) as it appears in some recent books on sociology/biology/economics. I end with an essay on the great tragedy playing out in America and the world, which can be seen as a direct result of our evolved psychology manifested as the inexorable machinations of System 1.  Our psychology, eminently adaptive and eugenic on the plains of Africa from ca. 6 million years ago, when we split from chimpanzees, to ca. 50,000 years ago, when many of our ancestors left Africa (i.e., in the EEA or Environment of Evolutionary Adaptation), is now maladaptive and dysgenic and the source of our Suicidal Utopian Delusions. So, like all discussions of behavior (philosophy, psychology, sociology, biology, anthropology, politics, law, literature, history, economics, soccer strategies, business meetings, etc.), this book is about evolutionary strategies, selfish genes and inclusive fitness (kin selection).
The great mystic Osho said that the separation of God and Heaven from Earth and Humankind was the most evil idea that ever entered the Human mind.  In the 20th century an even more evil notion arose—that humans are born with rights, rather than having to earn privileges.  Thus every day the population increases by 200,000, who must be provided with resources to grow and space to live, and who soon produce another 200,000 etc.  And one almost never hears it noted that what they receive must be taken from those already alive. Their lives diminish those already here in both major obvious and countless subtle ways.  Every new baby destroys the earth from the moment of conception. There cannot be human rights without human wrongs.  It cannot be more obvious, but one will never see the streets full of protesters with banners protesting motherhood.

America and the world are in the process of collapse from excessive population growth, most of it for the last century and now all of it due to 3rd world people. Consumption of resources and the addition of 4 billion more ca. 2100 will collapse industrial civilization and bring about starvation, disease, violence and war on a staggering scale. Billions will die and nuclear war is all but certain. In America this is being hugely accelerated by massive immigration and immigrant reproduction, combined with abuses made possible by democracy. Depraved human nature inexorably turns the dream of democracy and diversity into a nightmare of crime and poverty. China will continue to overwhelm America and the world, as long as it maintains the dictatorship which limits selfishness. The root cause of collapse is the inability of our innate psychology to adapt to the modern world, which leads people to treat unrelated persons as though they had common interests. This, plus ignorance of basic biology and psychology, leads to the social engineering delusions of the partially educated who control democratic societies.  Few understand that if you help one person you harm someone else—there is no free lunch and every single item anyone consumes destroys the earth beyond repair. Consequently social policies everywhere are unsustainable and one by one all societies without stringent controls on selfishness will collapse into anarchy or dictatorship. Without dramatic and immediate changes, there is no hope for preventing the collapse of America, or any country that follows a democratic system.  Hence my concluding essay “Suicide by Democracy”.

The definitions of human behavior guiding traditional psychology, psychiatry or sociology lack the defining capacity of sciences, the provision of causal explanations of phenomena. Humanities are, by definition, anthropocentric disciplines. The mental, emotional, and social mannerisms or actions of human individuals or populations that represent behavior are manifestations of complex strategies responding to stimuli in perceived realities. In this they apply neurologically constituted means such as consciousness, theory of mind, and self-awareness, while also following culturally imposed conventions of various types. None of these and other factors contributing to human behavior can be dissociated from their historical trajectories, leading all the way into the deep hominin past. Nor can they be explained effectively without an understanding of these trajectories. Such understanding has largely escaped scientific attention thus far, and this chapter cannot provide more than a rudimentary introduction illustrating the profound shortcomings of traditional disciplines in defining the complexities of human behavior.

The monograph implements a multidisciplinary approach in describing language (a) in its ontogenetic development, and (b) in its close interrelationship with other human subsystems: thought, memory, activity, etc. The focus is on the semantic component of the evolutionary-synthetic theory.
The major results of the monograph are as follows:
- the mechanisms for grammatical polysemy are analysed;
- the structural unity of artefact and natural concepts (such as CHAIR, ROAD, LAKE, RIVER, TREE) are brought to light;
- object and motor concepts are defined in terms of the language of thought, and their representation in neurobiological memory codes is discussed;
- the hierarchic structure of basic meanings of concrete nouns is shown to arise as a result of their step-by-step development in ontogeny.

Reviews
“The book reads with great interest sustained by both the core ideas of the Evolutionary-Synthetic Theory of Language (ESToL) itself―which may be assessed differently by different readers―and the detailed analysis of numerous examples that illustrate the propositions advanced by the author. The main merit of the book is that the author, while declaring a deep crisis in contemporary theoretical linguistics, at the same time suggests a way out of this crisis with the course outlined in the ESToL.”
Alexander Kravchenko, English Philology, Irkutsk State University (Russia)

“Alexey Koshelev takes the next crucial step, toward a synthesis of cognitive and linguistic abilities in their interrelated development, toward a systematic unity of universal and specific, abstract and concrete in language. He begins with patterns in the cognition of objects, from the most basic and holistic representations of an object to the delineation of its distinct features and, further, to the synthesis of the accumulated knowledge of the various facets of an object into a cohesive system for its representation.”
Liudmila Zubkova, People’s Friendship University of Russia [translation J. Smith]

“Alexey Koshelev presents an integral conception of language as a sum total of lexicon and grammar, developed from the perspective of child cognitive development and language acquisition. The unquestionable merit of such a conception is the uniform and consistent approach to analysis and description of a range of linguistic phenomena; this approach is characterized by the deliberate use of a well-grounded methodology and an original set of concepts.”
Tat’iana Screbtsova, Saint Petersburg State University (Russia)

The Philippines has its own unique qualities that make it different from other country around the world. Filipinos share rich and colorful culture, speaks 187 total languages on its 7,107 islands. Among all of these languages 183 dialects are still living and 4 others are already extinct. One of the reasons why a language became extinct is modernization or the progress of the country on its economy. Language is used daily through communications, transactions and discussions. Without proper language, language barrier may occur. Language barrier is the miscommunication between young and old or even in two native peoples with different dialect that is why a nation is required to have its own national language. The national language sprang from the native languages. But years pass by language evolves and from it new language and terms arise. When new languages comes out it will be used by the newer generations that may cause native languages to be forgotten and dissolve without noticing it. As people of the Philippines language is part of their culture and tradition. When it’s gone big part of Filipino’s nativity will be gone.

In this paper I explore the question of what is unique and special about modern humans (homo sapiens) from the perspective of evolutionary anthropology and cognitive science. I frst give a brief overview of the evolution of the human brain. Then I discuss six candidates for what makes human cognition unique: (1) the ability to adopt a shared perspective (2) symbolic, analogical reasoning (3) a Theory of Mind (4) the creation of a symbolic 'niche' with shared cultural artefacts and norms (5) mental time travel (6) language. Most importantly, a comparison of the sociocognitive capacities and motivations of humans and other primates indicates that humans might possess a unique adaptation for cultural interaction, transmission and learning. This is already evident in infants and young children, who show unique abilities and motivations in the domain of sharing intentions, understanding joint commitments, and sharing attention and other psychological states.

Since 1979 and the release of The Sugarhill Gang’s ‘Rappers Delight’, the genre of hip hop has grown. Members of the hip hop community cite the reason for this growth as being the evolution of the music, mainly pertaining to differences in subject matter. Throughout this project the subject matter of the songs was one of three areas of interest that were discussed in an attempt to highlight the level of evolution in hip hop. Firstly, the subject matter was highlighted through semantic analysis of the lyrics with the amount of African American Vernacular English (AAVE) specific lexis noted. Secondly, the occurrence of AAVE specific lexis was examined. The final research points were related to AAVE syntax: (i) use of “ain’t” as a form of negation (cf. Howe 2005:174) and (ii) auxiliary and copula deletion (cf. Labov 1969).

The project analysed six different eras of Hip Hop with five songs representing each era. The eras were pre-defined by the hip-hop community as: Old School, Golden, Gangsta, Millennium rap, 2000s rap and the current rap scene. Due to hip hop music being accepted as a major genre after the Gangster rap era there were no widely accepted titles for the eras that occurred after. This meant new terms had to be coined. The chosen songs are considered some of the most influential – either by number of sales or being held in high esteem by the hip hop community. The latter was found from a poll of 33 of the biggest names in hip hop conducted by Rolling Stone magazine.

The areas of interest were researched by analysing every lyric of every song. The results from each era were then compared. Results indicated that the evolution of the genre did occur with the differences between the eras becoming more apparent as the time progressed. The study suggests that that the main reason for this evolution was the thematic differences between the eras with each era seemingly focusing on different topics: dance (Old school), violence (Golden and Gangster), Sex (Millennium and 2000s) and Wealth (Current). With such a large thematic change between the first era to the present day it can be suggested that when the next era is analysed (whatever that may be) the evolution will surely continue.

The literature on language evolution treats the fact that language allows for lying as a major obstacle to the emergence and development of language, and thus looks for theoretical means to constrain the lie. In this paper, I claim that this general formulation of the issue at hand misses out on the fact that lying made an enormous contribution to the evolution of language. Without the lie, language would not be as complex as it is, linguistic communication would be much simpler, the cognitive requirement of language would not be so heavy, and its role in society would be radically different. The argument is based on Dor's (2015) theory of language as a social communication technology, collectively-designed for the instruction of imagination. The theory rethinks the essence of lying, and suggests that the emergence of language did more to enhance the human capacity for deception than it did to enhance the human capacity for honest communication. Lying, then, could not be constrained, but language did not collapse. The conception of lying as a threat to language, as it is formulated in the literature, is based on a series of unrealistic assumptions. Most importantly, the cognitive, emotional and social capacities required for lying, lie-detection and moral enforcement are never equally spread within communities: they are highly variable. Lying and language came to be entangled in a never-ending co-evolutionary spiral, which changed the map of communicative relationships within communities, and participated in shaping our languages, societies, cognitions and emotions. We evolved for lying, and because of lying, just as much as we evolved for and because of honest communication.

In this article, a research on mythical thinking –which is identified with primitive human– has been made. By comparatively examining the views of different thinkers on this manner of thinking, the missing and contradictory aspects of these views have been briefly presented. Differences and similarities between modern thinking and mythical thinking which are hypothetically suggested are philosophically investigated. Being-a-construing is emphasized as an essential characteristic feature of primitive human’s thinking. The presupposition of linearity in the historical development of thinking which is common within these thinkers opinions is criticised. By centering the recapitulation theory, a change of fragmental structure for human mind and thinking -which shapes these two ways of thinking- is offered as a suggestion gathering all the views within itself. A widely accepted approach between ontogeny and phylogeny is revised and used to explain the historical process and change of mythical and modern thinking here.

The main focus of this monograph on whistled speech is the result of a worldwide inquiry primarily based on the author’s unprecedented fieldwork and laboratory experience. The different questions raised by the origin and the evolution of whistled forms of languages are also explored, including the role of environmental constraints in the emergence of whistled speech, their phonetic and phonological typology, the cognitive processing of whistled signals, monogenesis and polygenesis scenarios, the hypothesis of a whistled system preceding voiced speech, the intricate relationship between music and language in whistling, and the convergence/divergence with whistled communication among animals (birds, dolphins and primates).

This book also includes several documents and a chapter prepared in collaboration with René-Guy Busnel, a pioneer in the studies of whistled forms of languages who has worked with five different populations using whistled speech (from the late 60s to the early 90s).

The author has been intensively studying this fascinating language practice for the past 12 years, including 30 months of onsite research in collaboration with the cultural representatives of approximately twenty linguistic communities around the world.

Whistled speech represents an ancient traditional telecommunication system that has survived on all inhabited continents of our planet. In it, a whistle replaces the voice and carries the information. However, this practice does not replace ordinary speech but is used in a complementary way.  It serves to increase the audible range, but also under certain circumstances, the degree of secrecy of spoken communications.

Whistled speech is adapted to the structure of each language, to specific traditional rural activities such as hunting or shepherding, and to specific ecological milieux. It is today a severely endangered speech register that provides an alternative insight into the nature of human language.

Double articulation refers to the property of human languages in which meaningful words are composed of meaningless sounds. This article surveys what it is, how it differs from other properties like arbitrariness and productivity, whether it is a true human universal, and its evolutionary origins.

Entry for the International Encyclopedia of Linguistic Anthropology.

Dag Norberg's analysis and interpretation of Medieval Latin versification, which was published in French in 1958 and remains the standard work on the subject, appears here for the first time in English with a detailed, scholarly introduction by Jan Ziolkowski that reviews the developments of the past fifty years.