How (and why) languages became more complex as we evolved more prosocial: the human self-domestication view
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View abstract on PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.Human evolution through self-domestication may explain language emergence. This process potentially enhanced cognitive traits, fostering language complexification and cultural evolution.
Area Of Science
- Evolutionary Anthropology
- Linguistics
- Cognitive Science
Background
- The emergence of human language is a complex phenomenon.
- The self-domestication hypothesis offers a novel perspective on human evolution, drawing parallels with domesticated animals.
Purpose Of The Study
- To re-examine language emergence through the lens of human self-domestication.
- To explore how self-domestication may have influenced cognitive and behavioral traits relevant to language.
Main Methods
- Review of diverse evidence, including paleogenetic and clinical data.
- Theoretical modeling of language complexification within the self-domestication framework.
Main Results
- Self-domestication may have potentiated cognitive and behavioral features impacting language acquisition and use.
- This evolutionary process could have facilitated the creation of a cultural niche favoring language complexification.
- A model is proposed for language structural (grammar, prosody, semantics) and functional (pragmatics) complexification.
Conclusions
- The self-domestication account provides a plausible framework for understanding language evolution.
- Future research should focus on empirical testing of this hypothesis.
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