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Linear grammar as a possible stepping-stone in the evolution of language
Ray Jackendoff1, Eva Wittenberg2
1Center for Cognitive Studies, Tufts University, Medford, MA, 02155, USA. ray.jackendoff@tufts.edu.
Psychonomic Bulletin & Review
|July 3, 2016
Summary
Linear grammar, lacking syntax and morphology, offers insights into language evolution. This simpler structure, mapping semantics directly to phonology, is found in various linguistic forms and may be an evolutionary precursor to complex grammars.
Area of Science:
- Linguistics
- Evolutionary Biology
- Cognitive Science
Background:
- The evolution of complex human language remains a significant scientific question.
- Understanding simpler language forms can illuminate the developmental trajectory of syntactic and morphological complexity.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the concept of linear grammar as a potential precursor to modern syntactic language.
- To explore the presence and function of linear grammar principles across diverse linguistic phenomena.
Main Methods:
- Theoretical analysis of linear grammar properties (lack of syntax, morphology, recursion).
- Examination of linguistic data from pidgins, second language acquisition, home signs, village sign languages, aphasia, specific language impairment, Riau Indonesian, nonlinguistic gesture, and English compounds.
- Comparative analysis of semantic relations conveyed through word order versus pragmatics.
Main Results:
- Linear grammar, characterized by direct semantic-phonological mapping, can convey relations like agent-patient through word order.
- Evidence for linear grammar principles is found in pidgins, language acquisition stages, sign languages, language impairments, and Riau Indonesian.
- Nonlinguistic gestures and certain English grammatical structures (compounds) also exhibit linear ordering principles.
Conclusions:
- Linear grammar represents a plausible evolutionary precursor to fully syntactic language.
- The principles of linear grammar remain active in the human mind, influencing various aspects of language processing and production.
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