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An evolutionary approach to sign language emergence: From state to process

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 April 2017

Yasamin Motamedi ,
Marieke Schouwstra  and
Simon Kirby
Yasamin Motamedi
Affiliation:
School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences, Centre for Language Evolution, The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, EH8 9AD, Scotland, United Kingdom. y.m.motamedi-mousavi@sms.ed.ac.uk marieke.schouwstra@ed.ac.uk simon@ling.ed.ac.uk
Marieke Schouwstra
Affiliation:
School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences, Centre for Language Evolution, The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, EH8 9AD, Scotland, United Kingdom. y.m.motamedi-mousavi@sms.ed.ac.uk marieke.schouwstra@ed.ac.uk simon@ling.ed.ac.uk
Simon Kirby
Affiliation:
School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences, Centre for Language Evolution, The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, EH8 9AD, Scotland, United Kingdom. y.m.motamedi-mousavi@sms.ed.ac.uk marieke.schouwstra@ed.ac.uk simon@ling.ed.ac.uk
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Abstract

Understanding the relationship between gesture, sign, and speech offers a valuable tool for investigating how language emerges from a nonlinguistic state. We propose that the focus on linguistic status is problematic, and a shift to focus on the processes that shape these systems serves to explain the relationship between them and contributes to the central question of how language evolves.

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Open Peer Commentary
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 40 , 2017 , e65
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Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2017 

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References

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