L10 Language

• Verbal language may be an instinct:

  • Universal across cultures
  • Brain damage can specifically impair language e.g. Broca’s aphasia
  • Critical period for language learning
• Language may be unique to humans:

  • Animals can learn a small vocabulary
  • Dolphins can understand some syntax
  • But human language seems to be learned differently than the way animals learn to communicate.
• If language evolved, then you would expect something similar to language in monkeys?

  However, humans are not descendants of monkeys.
• Alternative:

  Language is the by-product of increased intelligence.

  Evolution has played a general role in supporting language by selecting for greater intelligence.