-------- Original Message --------
American Scientist
HUMAN EVOLUTION
Hand-me-down Speech
Dario Maestripieri, Human Development and Evolutionary Biology, University of
Chicago
From Hand to Mouth: The Origins of Language. Michael C. Corballis. xiv + 257
pp. Princeton University Press, 2002. $27.95.
No one really knows where human language comes from. One possibility is that
language evolved from the hand gestures of our ape and hominid ancestors and
not from their vocalizations. The view promoted by Michael Corballis in From
Hand to Mouth is that our ancestors used both vocalizations and hand gestures
to communicate, but that-particularly after the evolution of bipedalism and an
increase in brain size-gestural communication became more complex and acquired
the characteristics of a language, including symbolic referents, grammar and a
syntax. Eventually there was a shift from gestures to speech as the main medium
for expression.
One of the first to propose the gestural theory of language origins was the
18th-century French philosopher Abbé Étienne Bonnot de Condillac; it was then
resurrected by the American anthropologist Gordon W. Hewes in the 1970s.
Corballis expands the theory and integrates many research findings from
disciplines such as paleoanthropology, primatology, linguistics, developmental
psychology and neuroscience.
Full text
http://www.americanscientist.org/bookshelf/Leads02/02-09Tfromhand.html
From Hand to Mouth: The Origins of Language
Michael C. Corballis
Hardcover - 384 pages (May 2002)
Princeton Univ Pr; ISBN: 0691088039
AMAZON - US
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0691088039/darwinanddarwini/
AMAZON - UK
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0691088039/humannaturecom/
It is often said that speech is what distinguishes us from other animals. But
are we all talk? What if language was bequeathed to us not by word of mouth,
but as a hand-me-down?
The notion that language evolved not from animal cries but from manual and
facial gestures--that, for most of human history, actions have spoken louder
than words--has been around since Condillac. But never before has anyone
developed a full-fledged theory of how, why, and with what effects language
evolved from a gestural system to the spoken word. Marshaling far-flung
evidence from anthropology, animal behavior, neurology, molecular biology,
anatomy, linguistics, and evolutionary psychology, Michael Corballis makes the
case that language developed, with the emergence of Homo sapiens, from primate
gestures to a true signed language, complete with grammar and syntax and at
best punctuated with grunts and other vocalizations. While vocal utterance
played an increasingly important complementary role, autonomous speech did not
appear until about 50,000 years ago--much later than generally believed.
Bringing in significant new evidence to bolster what has been a minority view,
Corballis goes beyond earlier supporters of a gestural theory by suggesting why
speech eventually (but not completely!) supplanted gesture. He then uses this
milestone to account for the artistic explosion and demographic triumph of the
particular group of Homo sapiens from whom we are descended. And he asserts
that speech, like written language, was a cultural invention and not a
biological fait accompli.
Writing with wit and eloquence, Corballis makes nimble reference to literature,
mythology, natural history, sports, and contemporary politics as he explains in
fascinating detail what we now know about such varied subjects as early hominid
evolution, modern signed languages, and the causes of left-handedness. From
Hand to Mouth will have scholars and laymen alike talking--and sometimes
gesturing--for years to come.
Michael C. Corballis is Professor of Psychology and a member of the Research
Center for Cognitive Science at the University of Auckland. He is the author of
three books, including The Lopsided Ape, and coeditor of The Descent of Mind.
His work has appeared in Science, Nature, Scientific American, and American
Scientist.
Endorsements:
"A lively and well constructed read that bravely tackles head-on the tough
question of where language came from. Corballis intriguingly concludes that
this unique human property has gestural rather than vocal origins; and along
the way he explores numerous fascinating byways that make this a must read for
everyone interested in how humans became the extraordinary creatures they
are."--Ian Tattersall, American Museum of Natural History, author ofExtinct
Humans and The Fossil Trail
"Michael Corballis has accomplished a Herculean task. Reviewing and
synthesizing data from a range of disciplines, he has woven it all into a book
that is at once enjoyable and easy to read and yet faithful to the complexity
of the subject matter. While this is admittedly a provocative work, the author
has marshaled considerable evidence in support of his thesis. Indeed, he has
done all of us a great service by raising the level of discussion surrounding
this controversial topic. This is no small accomplishment."--Sherman Wilcox,
University of New Mexico, General Editor, Evolution of Communication
"A fascinating journey along the evolutionary path that 'converted us from wild
gesticulators to smooth talkers.' On the path we pass our ape-like ancestors,
the change to bipedalism, increase in brain size, gestures, the anatomical
requirements for vocalization, and finally the spoken language."--Lewis
Wolpert, University College London
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