How Language Began: Gesture and Speech in Human Evolution

280 Pages·2012·3.905 MB·

by  David McNeill

HowLanguageBegan
Humanlanguageisnotthesameashumanspeech.Weusegesturesand
signstocommunicatealongside,orinsteadof,speaking.Yetgestures
andspeechareprocessedinthesameareasofthehumanbrain,and
thestudyofhowbothhaveevolvediscentraltoresearchontheorigins
ofhumancommunication.Writtenbyoneofthepioneersofthefield,
thisisthefirstbooktoexplainhowspeechandgestureevolvedtogether
intoasystemthatallhumanspossess.Nearlyalltheorizingaboutthe
origins of language either ignores gesture, views it as an add-on, or
supposes that language began in gesture and was later replaced by
speech. David McNeill challenges the popular “gesture-first” theory
that language first emerged in a gesture-only form, and proposes a
ground-breakingtheoryoftheevolutionoflanguagewhichexplains
howspeechandgesturebecameunified.
david mcneill is Professor Emeritus in the Departments of Psy-
chologyandLinguisticsattheUniversityofChicago.Hispublications
include Hand and Mind (1992), Gesture and Thought (2005), and
LanguageandGesture(Cambridge,2000).
ApproachestotheEvolutionofLanguage
The evolution of human language is a rapidly growing area of study and
research, undertaken from a wide range of perspectives. This new series
providesaforumfortheverybestcontributionstothisfascinatingsubject.
Taking an interdisciplinary approach, the series as a whole encourages a
productivedialoguebetweenthoseworkinginlinguistics,biology,psychol-
ogy,anthropologyandcognitivescience.
Publishedtitles
LanguageEvolutionandSyntacticTheory AnnaR.Kinsella
TheEvolutionofHumanLanguage:BiolinguisticPerspectives
RichardK.Larson,VivianeDepre´zandHirokoYamakido
HowLanguageBegan:GestureandSpeechinHumanEvolution
DavidMcNeill
How Language Began
Gesture and Speech in Human Evolution
david mcneill
cambridgeuniversitypress
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(cid:2)c DavidMcNeill2012
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Firstpublished2012
PrintedintheUnitedKingdomattheUniversityPress,Cambridge
AcatalogrecordforthispublicationisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary
LibraryofCongressCataloginginPublicationdata
McNeill,David.
Howlanguagebegan:gestureandspeechinhumanevolution/DavidMcNeill.
pages; cm
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
ISBN978-1-107-02121-1(hardback:alkalinepaper)
1.Languageandlanguages–Origin. 2.Speechandgesture. I.Title.
P116.M455 2012
401–dc23 2012021835
ISBN978-1-107-02121-1Hardback
ISBN978-1-107-60549-7Paperback
CambridgeUniversityPresshasnoresponsibilityforthepersistenceor
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ForOurLuckyCharm

Contents
Listoffigures [pageviii]
Listoftables [x]
Preface [xi]
Acknowledgments [xiii]
1 Introduction–gestureandtheoriginoflanguage [1]
2 Whatevolved(inpart)–thegrowthpoint [19]
3 Howitevolved(inpart)–Mead’sLoop [58]
4 EffectsofMead’sLoop [114]
5 Ontogenesisinevolution–evolutioninontogenesis [165]
6 Alternatives,theirlimits,andthesciencebaseofthe
growthpoint [186]
Notes [223]
References [236]
Index [257]
Figures
1.1 TheGestureContinuum. [page5]
1.2 Exampleofaspeech-synchronizedgesture. [8]
1.3 Jahai(Laos)lippoint. [11]
1.4 Canonical“OK.” [17]
2.1 “Risinghollowness”gesture. [27]
2.2 Illustratinggesturecombinations. [30]
2.3 Isolated“inside”gesturesdonothighlightinteriority. [36]
2.4 “Inside”after“outside”gestureshighlightinteriority. [37]
2.5 Exceptionthatprovestherule. [39]
2.6 Timinghighlightsinteriority. [40]
2.7 Gestureswithasignlanguage. [41]
2.8 Catchments. [44]
2.9 Settinguptheopposedforcesparadigm. [50]
2.10 Settinguptheunpacking. [52]
2.11 Meta-pragmagtics. [55]
3.1 Gestureandvocalizationinchimpanzees. [72]
3.2 Bonobogestures. [72]
3.3 Imitationbutnoinstructioninchimpanzees. [74]
3.4 Firstoccurrencesof“King”and“Queen”morphs. [81]
3.5 Alaterabbreviated“Queen.” [82]
3.6 “Queen”and“King”bythelistener. [83]
3.7 Possible“Sylvester”proto-morphs. [84]
3.8 IWgesturewithvision. [103]
3.9 IWtwo-handediconicgesturewithoutvision. [104]
3.10 IWcannotperformaninstrumentalactionwithoutvision. [105]
3.11 IWchangesrateofspeechandgesturewithoutvisionin
perfectsynchrony. [106]
3.12 Annotatedbrain. [107]
3.13 Twoversionsofgesture-firstextinction. [113]
4.1 Adhocmetaphorfor“inaccessibility.” [121]
4.2 Neapolitangestures. [123]
4.3 Englishspeaker’snon-culturalequivalent. [125]
4.4 Communicativedynamism. [127]