The mystery of language evolution
Tinbergen's four questions
Proximate viewHow an individual organism's structures function:
• Ontogeny: Developmental explanations for changes in individuals, from the molecular interactions to their form.
• Mechanism (causation): Mechanistic explanations for how an organism's organs work
Evolutionary (ultimate) viewWhy a species evolved the structures (adaptations) it has.
• Phylogeny: The history of the evolution of sequential changes in a species over many generations.
• Adaptation (function): A species trait that solves a reproductive or survival problem in the current environment
• Ontogeny: Developmental explanations for changes in individuals, from the molecular interactions to their form.
• Mechanism (causation): Mechanistic explanations for how an organism's organs work
Proximate explanations to how language occurs are well known
Somatosensory representation of the human body in the cortex
Figure 4.1: Simplified hominin phylogeny. After Lewin and Foley (2004) p. 17
Evolutionary (ultimate) viewWhy a species evolved the structures (adaptations) it has.
• Phylogeny: The history of the evolution of sequential changes in a species over many generations.
• Adaptation (function): A species trait that solves a reproductive or survival problem in the current environment
Barney et al, 2011
The authors focus on 4 domains of inquiry to discuss if they contribute to theories of language evolution.
Animal studies Paleontology and archaeology
Molecular Biology Modelling
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