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Evolution of Language as One of the Major Evolutionary Transitions

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Evolution of Communication and Language in Embodied Agents

Abstract

In this chapter I briefly summarize views on adaptation and language, some relevant neurobiological and genetic facts, the presence or absence of recursion in animals, the possible role of genetic assimilation in language evolution, the prerequisites of language and the nature of the human adaptive suite, and the relative merits of proposed evolutionary scenarios for the origin of natural language. I highlight the special difficulty of this last major transition and a possible integrative modelling approach to the problem. Finally, I give a summary showing that the transition from early hominine societies with protolanguage to modern society with language indeed qualifies as a major transition.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Collegium Budapest, Budapest, Hungary

    Eörs Szathmáry

  2. The Parmenides Foundation, Munich, Germany

    Eörs Szathmáry

  3. Biological Institute, Eötvös University, Budapest, Hungary

    Eörs Szathmáry

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  1. Eörs Szathmáry
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Correspondence to Eörs Szathmáry .

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  1. e Tecnologie della Cognizione, CNR Roma, ISTC - Ist. Scienze, Via San Martino della Battaglia 44, Roma, 00185, Italy

    Stefano Nolfi

  2. e Tecnologie della Cognizione, CNR Roma, ISTC - Ist. Scienze, Via San Martino della Battaglia 44, Roma, 00185, Italy

    Marco Mirolli

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Szathmáry, E. (2010). Evolution of Language as One of the Major Evolutionary Transitions. In: Nolfi, S., Mirolli, M. (eds) Evolution of Communication and Language in Embodied Agents. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-01250-1_3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-01250-1_3

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