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In the early twentieth century, Ferdinand de Saussure envisioned "a science which studies the role of signs as part of social life". About a century later, a science has emerged that is very much in the spirit of that envisioned by de Saussure. Researchers who are developing this science, which has been labeled Experimental Semiotics, conduct controlled studies in which human adults develop novel communication systems or impose novel structure on systems provided to them. This volume offers a primer to Experimental Semiotics and presents a set of studies conducted within this new discipline. The volume is an ideal text complement for an advanced graduate seminar and it will be of interest to anyone who wonders how humans assemble and develop new ways to communicate with one another. Originally published in Interaction Studies 11:1 (2010).
In this book, Ljiljana Progovac proposes a gradualist, adaptationist approach to the evolution of syntax, subject to natural selection. She provides a specific framework for its study, combining the fields of evolutionary biology, theoretical syntax, typology, neuroscience, and genetics. The author pursues an internal reconstruction of the stages of grammar based on the syntactic theory associated with Chomskyan Minimalism and arrives at specific, testable hypotheses, which are then corroborated by an abundance of theoretically analysed 'living fossils' drawn from a variety of languages. Her approach demonstrates that these fossil structures do not just coexist alongside more modern structur...
First published in 1986. The present volume is the outcome of a symposium on Gestures, Cultures and Communication, held in May 1982 at Victoria College, University of Toronto. This conference, one of a series of five colloquia which took place during the Third International Summer Institute for Semiotic and Structural Studies, was organized by the Toronto Semiotic Circle. The purpose of the 1982 conference was to explore the biological basis of gestures by bringing together investigators working mainly in the fields of anthropology, neurophysiology, neuropsychology and psycholinguistics.
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A reference work that should be a first port of call for students and researchers in any discipline studying fundamental questions concerning the origins and nature of human symbolic abilities. The book is about the evolution of humanity: our language, art, tools, and communication. As suchit covers a wide range of disciplines: anthropology, psychology, primatology, paleontology, and archaeology. The various topics are dealt with by experts from each field, in articles that provide summaries that are scholarly but will also be comprenhensive to the many people (both lay andprofessional) who are interested in human evolution.
Language evolution is a science which studies the origins and diversification of language. This book is an introduction to the topic and is addressed to audiences who are not professionally involved in the study of language evolution.