Eve Spoke: Human Language and Human EvolutionThe human imagination never ceases to be captivated by the quest for its own roots. Who were our ancestors? In the evolutionary clash of brains and brawn, what was it that prevailed and made us, Homo sapiens, uniquely human? Today scientists cite language as the distinctively human feature. But what is language--a sign, a grunt? a sound with collective symbolic meaning? This remarkable book seeks to set the record straight with a critical refinement of the language theory, providing us for the first time with a scientific explanation of how Eve came to speak at all. Wrestling with the age-old question of why such a large gulf exists between humans and other animals, Philip Lieberman mines both the fossil record and modern neuroscientific techniques to chart the development of the anatomy and brain mechanisms necessary for human language as we know it. Eschewing any notion of a language gene or instinct, he pursues instead an evolutionary path in which environment acts on a biological capacity to reveal the interconnectedness of systems that make us most human: precise motor skills, speech, language, and complex thought. Eve Spoke challenges the dominant scientific theories of language's origins and forges a new understanding of the role of language in our evolution. |
Contents
The Mice Talked at Night | 3 |
Chimpanzees and Time Machines | 21 |
Hes a Big Baby | 49 |
Dead Men and Women Talk Again | 68 |
Talking and Thinking Brains | 98 |
What When and Where Did | 133 |
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ability acoustic adapted adult human anatomy ancestors animals apes articulatory australopithecine basal ganglia behavior biological brain mechanisms Broca's aphasia Chapelle-aux-Saints child chim Chomskian Chomsky Chomsky's cognitive complex comprehend convey cortex Crelin cross-fostered chimpanzees culture deficits derthal early modern human formant formant frequency patterns fossil Gardners genes genetic grammar guage Haskins Laboratories hominids Homo erectus human brain human evolution human language human speech human vocal tract Kanzi La Chapelle-aux-Saints larynx Lieberman linguistic living Lower Paleolithic male manual motor control meaning monkeys mouth Nean Neanderthal Neanderthal skull Neanderthal speech Neanderthal vocal tract neocortex neural circuits neuroanatomical structures neurons normal Oldowan panzees Parkinson's disease pharynx phonation primates produce Project Washoe regulate speech sentence signal similar skull base species speech production stone tools studies subcortical supralaryngeal airway syntax talk techniques theory tion tongue toolmaking University vocal tract vowel Wernicke's areas words