From Signal to Symbol

Abstract

A novel account of the evolution of language and the cognitive capacities on which language depends. In From Signal to Symbol, Ronald Planer and Kim Sterelny propose a novel theory of language: that modern language is the product of a long series of increasingly rich protolanguages evolving over the last two million years. Arguing that language and cognition coevolved, they give a central role to archaeological evidence and attempt to infer cognitive capacities on the basis of that evidence, which they link in turn to communicative capacities. Countering other accounts, which move directly from archaeological traces to language, Planer and Sterelny show that rudimentary forms of many of the elements on which language depends can be found in the great apes and were part of the equipment of the earliest species in our lineage. After outlining the constraints a theory of the evolution of language should satisfy and filling in the details of their model, they take up the evolution of words, composite utterances, and hierarchical structure. They consider the transition from a predominantly gestural to a predominantly vocal form of language and discuss the economic and social factors that led to language. Finally, they evaluate their theory in terms of the constraints previously laid out.

Expression unleashed: The evolutionary and cognitive foundations of human communication

“…In explaining the open-endedness of human communication, many researchers emphasise the combinatorial and generative quality of natural language: The fact that individual constituent parts can be recombined in many ways, making infinite use of finite means (e.g., Chomsky, 1965; Jackendoff, 1997). An emphasis on combinations and codes is, moreover, sometimes linked with particular assumptions about evolution: That as complex systems of words, rules, and combinations, natural languages are enrichments of the communication systems of other species (e.g., Leroux & Townsend, 2020; Nowak, Plotkin, & Jansen, 2000; Planer & Sterelny, 2021; Progovac, 2015). This picture is attractive because it describes human and nonhuman communication systems in terms that appear continuous.…”

Cultural evolutionary pragmatics: Investigating the codevelopment and coevolution of language and social cognition.

“…In the last two decades, evolutionary linguistics has made great progress in understanding the cultural evolution of language (i.e., the cultural emergence of linguistic structure through processes of learning and use; Christiansen & Kirby, 2003; Dor, 2015; Fitch, 2017; Planer & Sterelny, 2021; Smith & Kirby, 2008; Tamariz & Kirby, 2016). However, the received view is that CSC is innate and prior to the emergence of language.…”

Earth Systems to Anthropocene Systems: An Evolutionary, System-of-Systems, Convergence Paradigm for Interdependent Societal Challenges

“…55 The coevolution of language, which is another nichechanging skill, is thought to have occurred in several stages, starting with cognitive and social capacities that were only modestly more sophisticated than those of our primate ancestors. 48 Given the importance of gesture among our closest living primate relatives (the great apes) it probably played a key role in launching human language, beginning with simple pointing and attention-getting, but becoming more structured with the need for more elaborate communication. The evolution of human syntactic abilities, with hierarchically structured complex signs, may have coevolved with the cognitive capacities required when learning to make stone tools.…”

“…Finally, the human "release from proximity" was facilitated by the evolution of linguistically enabled ways of keeping track of relationships among increasingly large sociocultural groups of individuals. 48 Although many details remain to be resolved, the proposed stages make it clear that the evolution of a rich protolanguage, and of language itself, depended on the simultaneous evolution of greatly enhanced capacities for social and cultural learning, 48 coevolution of the surrounding biophysical, sociocultural, and sociotechnical systems. Cultural transmission, which includes both social and cultural learning, facilitates cooperation, as well as competition and conflict, among groups of individuals.…”

“…Cooperation among individuals in a group restrained leaders to a relatively weak role, meaning that the reproductive success of leaders (including success in replicating themselves socially) depended on an ability to persuade and motivate, coupled with the ability of individuals to reach consensus. 47 As will be discussed below, the coevolution of language 48 and narrative 49 was used to help manage and influence individuals and groups, with some individuals using it more effectively to enhance their status and become leaders.…”