Why Only Us? The Evolution of Language
Dr. Robert Berwick, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Monday, April 18 at 5:30 p.m., 118 Psychology
Abstract
We are born crying, but those cries signal the first stirring of language. Within a year or so, infants master the sound system of their language; a few years after that, they are engaging in conversations. How did this remarkable, apparently species-specific, ability evolve? Like every great scientific mystery, the evolution of language poses a series of questions: What, Who, Where and When, How, and Why? In this talk we’ll review current evidence from modern linguistic theory, contemporary computer science, songbirds, neuroscience, and comparative genomics, to attempt to answer at least some of these questions.
Suggested Reading
Berwick, R and Chomsky, N (2016). Why Only Us. Chapter 1: Why Now? [pdf]
Berwick, R and Chomsky, N (2016). Why Only Us. Chapter 2: Biolinguistics Evolving. [pdf]