Gesture and the Nature of Language [Paperback]

This book proposes a radical alternative to dominant views of the evolution of language, and in particular the origins of syntax.This book proposes a radical alternative to dominant views of the evolution of language, in particular, the origins of syntax. Drawing on evidence from primatology, anthropology and linguistics, it presents a groundbreaking account of the notion that language emerged through visible bodily action.This book proposes a radical alternative to dominant views of the evolution of language, in particular, the origins of syntax. Drawing on evidence from primatology, anthropology and linguistics, it presents a groundbreaking account of the notion that language emerged through visible bodily action.This book proposes a radical alternative to dominant views of the evolution of language, in particular the origins of syntax. The authors draw on evidence from areas such as primatology, anthropology, and linguistics to present a groundbreaking account of the notion that language emerged through visible bodily action. Written in a clear and accessible style, Gesture and the Nature of Language will be indispensable reading for all those interested in the origins of language.Preface; 1. The universe of gesture; 2. The nature of gesture; 3. Are signed and spoken languages differently organized?; 4. Is language modular?; 5. Do we have a genetically programmed drive to acquire language?; 6. Language from the body politic; 7. The origin of syntax: gesture as name and relation; 8. Language from the body: an evolutionary perspective; References; Index.'The authors display a broad and deep scholarship, often provocative and stimulating, but never tendentious, and happily free of the polemic tone that mars much linguistic argument.' Michael Studdert-Kennedy'This book links studies of sign language and gesture with recent ideas about human evolution in a highly interesting way. It presents the important idea of 'semantic phonology' and suggests how syntax may have alC-