The Emergence of Language: Language Origins and Evolution

Author: (British) Aitchison J.
Publisher:
Publishing Time: 2002-06-01
Features: The Seeds of Speech: Language Origin and Evolution Human language is a weird communication system: it has more in common with birdsong than with the calls of other primates. Jean Aitchison explores the origins of human language and how it has evolved. She links the search to a vast prehistoric jigsaw puzzle, in which numerous fragments of evidence must be assembled. Such evidence is pieced together from a mixture of linguistic and non-linguistic sources like evolution theory, archaeology, psychology, and anthropology. The Seeds of Speech is an accessible and wide-ranging introduction to the origins and evolution of human language. We must be grateful to Jean Aitchison for so very readable assembling a good deal of recent work that might seem to hint at how language began... the author goes out of her way to offer a restful read to all comers.