Adam's Tongue: How Humans Made Language, How Language Made Humans

Description

How language evolved has been called "the hardest problem in science." Linguist Derek Bickerton shows how and why previous attempts to solve that problem have fallen short. This book is the first that thoroughly integrates the story of how language evolved with the story of how humans evolved. Taking cues from topics as diverse as the foraging strategies of ants, the distribution of large prehistoric herbivores, and the construction of ecological niches, Bickerton produces a dazzling new alternative to the conventional wisdom. Language is unique to humans, but it isn't the only thing that sets us apart from other species--our cognitive powers are qualitatively different. So could there be two separate discontinuities between humans and the rest of nature? No, says Bickerton; he shows how the mere possession of symbolic units--words--automatically opened a new and different cognitive universe.--From publisher description.;The size of the problem -- Thinking like engineers -- Singing apes? -- Chatting apes? -- Niches aren't everything (they-re the only thing) -- Our ancestors in their niches -- Go to the ant, thou sluggard -- The big bang -- The challenge from Chomsky -- Making up our minds -- An acorn grows to a sapling -- The sapling becomes an oak. The size of the problem -- Thinking like engineers -- Singing apes? -- Chatting apes? -- Niches aren't everything (they-re the only thing) -- Our ancestors in their niches -- Go to the ant, thou sluggard -- The big bang -- The challenge from Chomsky -- Making up our minds -- An acorn grows to a sapling -- The sapling becomes an oak.