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The Domestication of Language : Cultural Evolution and the Uniqueness of the Human Animal / Daniel Cloud.

By: Material type: TextTextPublisher: New York, NY : Columbia University Press, [2014]Copyright date: ©2014Description: 1 online resource (288 p.)Content type:
Media type:
Carrier type:
ISBN:
  • 9780231167925
  • 9780231538282
Subject(s): DDC classification:
  • 417/.7 23
LOC classification:
  • P116 .C58 2015
  • P116 .C58 2015
Other classification:
  • online - DeGruyter
Online resources: Available additional physical forms:
  • Issued also in print.
Contents:
Frontmatter -- Contents -- 1. Where Do Words Come From? -- 2. The Conventions of a Human Language -- 3. The Evolution of Signals -- 4. Varieties of Biological Information -- 5. The Strange Case of the Chimpanzee -- 6. The Problem of Maladaptive Culture -- 7. The Cumulative Consequences of a Didactic Adaptation -- 8. Meaning, Interpretation, and Language Acquisition -- 9. What's Accomplished in Conversation? -- 10. Recapitulation and Moral -- References -- Index
Summary: Language did not evolve only in the distant past. Our shared understanding of the meanings of words is ever-changing, and we make conscious, rational decisions about which words to use and what to mean by them every day. Applying Charles Darwin's theory of "unconscious artificial selection" to the evolution of linguistic conventions, Daniel Cloud suggests a new, evolutionary explanation for the rich, complex, and continually reinvented meanings of our words.The choice of which words to use and in which sense to use them is both a "selection event" and an intentional decision, making Darwin's account of artificial selection a particularly compelling model of the evolution of words. After drawing an analogy between the theory of domestication offered by Darwin and the evolution of human languages and cultures, Cloud applies his analytical framework to the question of what makes humans unique and how they became that way. He incorporates insights from David Lewis's Convention, Brian Skyrms's Signals, and Kim Sterelny's Evolved Apprentice, all while emphasizing the role of deliberate human choice in the crafting of language over time. His clever and intuitive model casts humans' cultural and linguistic evolution as an integrated, dynamic process, with results that reach into all corners of our private lives and public character.
Holdings
Item type Current library Call number URL Status Notes Barcode
eBook eBook Biblioteca "Angelicum" Pont. Univ. S.Tommaso d'Aquino Nuvola online online - DeGruyter (Browse shelf(Opens below)) Online access Not for loan (Accesso limitato) Accesso per gli utenti autorizzati / Access for authorized users (dgr)9780231538282

Frontmatter -- Contents -- 1. Where Do Words Come From? -- 2. The Conventions of a Human Language -- 3. The Evolution of Signals -- 4. Varieties of Biological Information -- 5. The Strange Case of the Chimpanzee -- 6. The Problem of Maladaptive Culture -- 7. The Cumulative Consequences of a Didactic Adaptation -- 8. Meaning, Interpretation, and Language Acquisition -- 9. What's Accomplished in Conversation? -- 10. Recapitulation and Moral -- References -- Index

restricted access online access with authorization star

http://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_16ec

Language did not evolve only in the distant past. Our shared understanding of the meanings of words is ever-changing, and we make conscious, rational decisions about which words to use and what to mean by them every day. Applying Charles Darwin's theory of "unconscious artificial selection" to the evolution of linguistic conventions, Daniel Cloud suggests a new, evolutionary explanation for the rich, complex, and continually reinvented meanings of our words.The choice of which words to use and in which sense to use them is both a "selection event" and an intentional decision, making Darwin's account of artificial selection a particularly compelling model of the evolution of words. After drawing an analogy between the theory of domestication offered by Darwin and the evolution of human languages and cultures, Cloud applies his analytical framework to the question of what makes humans unique and how they became that way. He incorporates insights from David Lewis's Convention, Brian Skyrms's Signals, and Kim Sterelny's Evolved Apprentice, all while emphasizing the role of deliberate human choice in the crafting of language over time. His clever and intuitive model casts humans' cultural and linguistic evolution as an integrated, dynamic process, with results that reach into all corners of our private lives and public character.

Issued also in print.

Mode of access: Internet via World Wide Web.

In English.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 02. Mrz 2022)