Academy Research

The Origin and Diversification of Language.
Memoirs of the California Academy of Sciences, No. 24.
Jablonski, N.G. and Aiello, L.E., eds. 1998.

In The Origin and Diversification of Language a range of distinguished scientists from disciplines as diverse as primatology, archaeology, neurobiology, and linguistics present the latest evidence on the origin, spread and diversification of language. The ability of human beings to communicate practical and symbolic information of great complexity to one another through the medium of articulate speech is one of the hallmarks of our species. But as with many other key innovations in human evolution, the beginnings of language did not leave direct traces in the fossil record. The exploration of various kinds of indirect evidence has thus proven essential. Making use of the most recent theoretical developments and technological breakthroughs, the contributors to this volume bring a new perspective to questions of language origins and diversification.

202 pages. Soft cover $7.

CONTRIBUTORS

Leslie C. Aiello
Peter Marler
Alex Martin
Robert D. Martin
Paul A. Mellars
Steven Pinker
Johanna Nichols
Colin Renfrew

CONTENTS

Chapter 1 Animal Communication and Human Language
Peter Marler

Chapter 2 The Foundations of Human Language
Leslie C. Aiello

Chapter 3 Comparative Aspects of Human Brain Evolution: Scaling, Energy Costs and Confounding Variables
Robert D. Martin

Chapter 4 Organization of Semantic Knowledge and the Origin of Words in the Brain
Alex Martin

Chapter 5 Neanderthals, Modern Humans and the Archeological Evidence for Language
Paul A. Mellars

Chapter 6 The Evolution of Human Language Faculty
Steven Pinker

Chapter 7 The Origin and Dispersal of Languages: Linguistic Evidence
Johanna Nichols

Chapter 8 The Origins of World Linguistic Diversity: An Archeological Perspective
Colin Renfrew

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