Form and Function in the Evolution of Grammar

Area of Science:

• Linguistics
• Evolutionary Biology
• Cognitive Science

Background:

• The formalist-functionalist debate in linguistics distinguishes between structural properties and communicative needs.
• Bridging this gap, some formalists incorporate functional mechanisms like natural selection into language evolution theories.
• Ray Jackendoff's view proposes a staged biological evolution of language for communicative efficiency.

Purpose of the Study:

• To critically examine the role of biological evolution in language origin and development.
• To investigate whether purely historical processes can account for grammatical properties.
• To explore the challenge posed by the autonomy of syntax to functionalist evolution models.

Main Methods:

• Comparative analysis of formalist and functionalist linguistic theories.
• Review of existing literature on language evolution and historical linguistics.
• Conceptual analysis of the autonomy of syntax and its evolutionary implications.

Main Results:

• Purely historical processes are sufficient to explain the emergence of many grammatical properties.
• The concept of the autonomy of syntax challenges functionalist views of grammar as solely a product of historical evolution.
• Biological evolution, as proposed by some formalists, may not be the primary driver for all language change.

Conclusions:

• The emergence and evolution of language may be more influenced by historical linguistic processes than previously assumed.
• The autonomy of syntax presents a significant challenge to functionalist accounts of grammatical evolution.
• The origins of the autonomy of syntax might lie in evolutionary (rather than purely historical) time.