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Book: Origin and Evolution of Languages

Chapter: Conceptualization, communication, and the origins of grammar

DOI: 10.1558/equinox.19028

Blurb:

The purpose of this paper is to defend the position that the evolutionary roots of grammar lie in conceptual structure. Pre-humans possessed a rich conceptual structure representing predicates and their accompanying arguments. I postulate that the evolutionary ‘event’ that underlies human language was
the forging of a link between conceptual structures and the vocal output channel — in other words, the beginnings of grammar per se.

Chapter Contributors

  • Frederick Newmeyer ([email protected] - newmeyer) 'University of Washington, University of British Columbia, Simon Fraser University'