A Hypothesis on the Catastrophic Emergence of Syntax and Phonetics

• Authors: Napierała Szymon
• Languages of publication: EN

Abstracts

EN

There are two major theories about the origin of human syntax: evolutionary and catastrophic, the latter appears more probable on theoretical and empirical grounds, the most serious reason being the problem with imagining the intermediate stages between protosyntax and full-blown syntax (Bickerton 1998). The “missing link” is recently often associated with recursion, a sole element of human syntax considered specifically human and specifically linguistic. Some accounts associate this trigger with a subpart of recursion, either operation Merge or a subpart of Merge, operation Label (Hornstein 2009) which by breaking the initial symmetry provides a sine qua non condition for asymmetric syntax in terms of endocentricity, phrase structure and, consequently, recursive embedding. My hypothesis is that assuming the catastrophic scenario, more than one catastrophic event must have happened in a very short time. Given that human vocal tract and human phonetics and phonology have several unique features compared with Great Apes (hierarchical but non-recursive structure, speech imitation skills, abundant use of formants, lack of laryngeal air sacks in the vocal tract) and given that the phonological form constitutes the interface of the human syntax, the mere addition of Label to the already existing operations of the protolanguage is insufficient, since (1) it does not account for the emergence of the phonologically interfaced syntax, (2) it fails to explain the indisociability of non-syntactic elements of language in terms of phonology, semantics and syntax as evidenced in Jackendoff (2011). Consequently, I assume that human language emerged as a result of at least two catastrophic processes: catastrophic emergence of phonetics and catastrophic emergence of syntax accompanied by the rapid expansion of the lexicon, the latter possibly as a result of a quantitative rather than qualitative development. The emergence of human phonology might have occurred gradually, but as a result of the catastrophic emergence of phonetics.

Keywords

EN

language faculty; catastrophic scenario; gradual scenario; recursion; Merge; Label

• Publisher: Komisja Nauk Filologicznych Polskiej Akademii Nauk, Oddział we Wrocławiu
• Journal: Academic Journal of Modern Philology
• Year: 2014
• Volume: 3
• Pages: 55-65

Dates

published

2014

Contributors

author

Napierała Szymon

• Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznań

References

• Bickerton, Derek (1998) “Language Evolution and the Minimalist Program.” [In:] James R. Hurford, Michael Studdert-Kennedy, Chris Knight (eds.) Approaches to the Evolution of Language: Social and Cognitive Bases. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press; 341–358.
• Collins, Chris (2002) “Eliminating Labels.” [In:] Samuel D. Epstein, T. Daniel Seely (eds.) Derivation and Explanation in the Minimalist Program. Oxford: Blackwell; 42–64.
• Everett, Daniel (2005) “Cultural Constraints on Grammar and Cognition in Pirahã.” [In:] Current Anthropology 46 (4); 621–646.
• Everett, Daniel (2009) “Pirahã Culture and Grammar: A Response to Some Criticisms.” [In:] Language 85; 405–442.
• Fitch, William Tecumseh (2000) “The Evolution of Speech: A Comparative Review.” [In:] Trends in Cognitive Sciences 4 (7); 258–267.
• Fitch, William Tecumseh, Marc Hauser (2004) “Computational Constraints in a Nonhuman Primate.” [In:] Science 303; 337–380.
• Fitch, William Tecumseh, Marc Hauser, Noam A. Chomsky (2005) “The Evolution of the Faculty of Language: Clarifications and Implications.” [In:] Science 303; 337–380.
• Fortuny, Jordi, Angel J. Gallego (eds.) (2009) Catalan Journal of Linguistics. Barcelona: Grup de Gramàtica Teòrica de la Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona.
• Gentner, Timothy, Kimberly Fenn, Daniel Margoliash, Howard Nusbaum (2006) “Recursive Syntactic Pattern Learning by Songbirds.” [In:] Nature 440; 1204–1207.
• Hauser, Marc, Noam A. Chomsky, William Tecumseh Fitch (2002) “The Faculty of Language: What Is It, Who Has It, and How Did It Evolve?” [In:] Science 298 (5598); 1569–1579.
• Hornstein, Norbert (2009) A Theory of Syntax: Minimal Operations and Universal Grammar. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• Hornstein, Norbert, Paul Pietroski (2009) “Basic Operations.” [In:] Jordi Fortuny, Ángel J. Gallego (eds.) Catalan Journal of Linguistics. Barcelona: Grup de Gramàtica Teòrica de la Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona; 113–139.
• Hurford, James R. (2004) “Human Uniqueness, Learned Symbols and Recursive Thought.” [In:] European Review 12 (4); 551–565.
• Hurford, James R., Michael Studdert-Kennedy, Chris Knight (eds.) (1998) Approaches to the Evolution of Language: Social and Cognitive Bases. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• Kochanski, Greg (2004) “Comment of Fitch and Hauser’s Computational Constraints in a Nonhuman Primate.” [In:] Science 5656; 318–320.
• Napierała, Szymon (2009) The Controversies about the Role of Recursion in Narrow Syntax and Language Evolution. Unpublished M.A. dissertation. Poznań: Adam Mickiewicz University.
• Nevins, Andrew, David Pesetsky, Cilene Rodrigues (2009) “Pirahã Exceptionality: A Reassessment.” [In:] Language 85; 355–404.
• Parker, Anna (2006) “Evolving the Narrow Language Faculty: Was Recursion a Pivotal Step?” [In:] Proceedings of the 6th International Conference on the Evolution of Language; 239–246.
• Pinker, Steven, Ray Jackendoff (2004) “The Faculty of Language: What’s Special about It?” [In:] Cognition 95; 201–236.
• Everett, Daniel (2007) “Cultural Constraints on Grammar in Pirahã: A Reply to Nevins, Pesetsky and Rodrigues.” Available at: http://ling.auf.net/lingBuzz/000427
• Gil, David (2009) “What is Riau Indonesian?” Available at: http://sastra.um.ac.id/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/PU-David-Gil-Riau-Indonesian-.-.-..pdf
• Jackendoff, Ray (2011) “What Is the Human Language Faculty? Two Views.” [In:] Language 87 (3); 586–624. Available at: http://ase.tufts.edu/cogstud/incbios/RayJackendoff/humanlanguage.pdf
• Jackendoff, Ray, Eva Wittenberg (2011) “Even Simpler Syntax: A Hierarchy of Grammatical Complexity.” Available at: http://ase.tufts.edu/cogstud/incbios/RayJackendoff/simplersyntax