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Language evolution and an emergent property.

Kazuo Okanoya1

  • 1Laboratory for Biolinguistics, Brain Science Institute, RIKEN, 2-1 Hirosawa, Wako, Saitama 351-0198, Japan. okanoya@brain.riken.jp

Current Opinion in Neurobiology
|March 28, 2007
PubMed
Summary
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The human language faculty (FLN) may not be solely based on recursion. Vocal learning, a shared trait with animals, is crucial for language development and may be a key component of FLN.

Area of Science:

  • Linguistics
  • Cognitive Science
  • Evolutionary Biology

Background:

  • The faculty of language in a broad sense (FLB) and narrow sense (FLN) hypothesis is debated.
  • Emphasis on recursion within FLN has led to neglect of other unique human language aspects.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To challenge the emphasis on recursion as the sole component of the faculty of language in a narrow sense (FLN).
  • To highlight the importance of non-syntactical aspects, such as vocal learning, in human language evolution.

Main Methods:

  • Conceptual analysis of existing linguistic and evolutionary theories.
  • Comparative review of vocal learning abilities across species.

Main Results:

  • Vocal learning enables a wide range of learned syllables, a unique aspect of human language.

Related Experiment Videos

  • FLN may not be an independent faculty but an emergent property.

    • Conclusions:

    • The faculty of language in a narrow sense (FLN) likely emerges from interactions between non-syntactical subfaculties of the faculty of language in a broad sense (FLB).
    • Vocal learning is a critical, yet often overlooked, component contributing to the unique nature of human language.