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Following the Dynamics of Structural Variants in Experimentally Evolved Populations

Following the Dynamics of Structural Variants in Experimentally Evolved Populations

Published on: February 3, 2023

Restrictions on biological adaptation in language evolution.

Nick Chater¹, Florencia Reali, Morten H Christiansen

¹Department of Cognitive, Perceptual and Brain Sciences, University College London, London WC1E 6BT, United Kingdom.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America

|January 24, 2009

Summary

Genes for language did not coevolve with language itself. Instead, the human brain

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Area of Science:

Evolutionary biology
Linguistics
Genetics

Background:

Language acquisition and processing are influenced by genetic factors.
A key debate concerns whether language evolved with specific genes or utilized existing cognitive abilities.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the conditions under which genes for language could coevolve with language.
To explore the relationship between genetic constraints and the evolution of language.

Main Methods:

Development of a theoretical model of gene-language interaction.
Implementation of the model using computer simulations.

Main Results:

Genes for language can only coevolve with stable linguistic features.
Rapidly changing cultural conventions in language prevent genetic coevolution.
Arbitrary language properties likely did not evolve via natural selection acting on a language module.

Conclusions:

The genetic basis for language predates language emergence.
Language evolved to fit the human brain, not the reverse.
Preexisting cognitive machinery was likely repurposed for language acquisition and processing.