The Language Faculty that Wasn't: A Usage-Based Account of Natural Language Recursion
In the generative tradition, the language faculty has been shrinking—perhaps to include only the mechanism of recursion. This paper argues that even this view of the language faculty is too expansive. We first argue that a language faculty is difficult to reconcile with evolutionary considerations....
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doaj-1ab22d2f9b4343308c09c1761c0f68b32020-11-24T23:30:51ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Psychology1664-10782015-08-01610.3389/fpsyg.2015.01182150920The Language Faculty that Wasn't: A Usage-Based Account of Natural Language RecursionMorten H Christiansen0Morten H Christiansen1Morten H Christiansen2Nick eChater3Cornell UniversityUniversity of Southern DenmarkHaskins LaboratoriesUniversity of WarwickIn the generative tradition, the language faculty has been shrinking—perhaps to include only the mechanism of recursion. This paper argues that even this view of the language faculty is too expansive. We first argue that a language faculty is difficult to reconcile with evolutionary considerations. We then focus on recursion as a detailed case study, arguing that our ability to process recursive structure does not rely on recursion as a property of the grammar, but instead emerge gradually by piggybacking on domain-general sequence learning abilities. Evidence from genetics, comparative work on non-human primates, and cognitive neuroscience suggests that humans have evolved complex sequence learning skills, which were subsequently pressed into service to accommodate language. Constraints on sequence learning therefore have played an important role in shaping the cultural evolution of linguistic structure, including our limited abilities for processing recursive structure. Finally, we re-evaluate some of the key considerations that have often been taken to require the postulation of a language faculty.http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fpsyg.2015.01182/fullCultural Evolutionsequence learninglanguage evolutionrecursiondomain-general processesLanguage faculty |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Morten H Christiansen Morten H Christiansen Morten H Christiansen Nick eChater |
spellingShingle |
Morten H Christiansen Morten H Christiansen Morten H Christiansen Nick eChater The Language Faculty that Wasn't: A Usage-Based Account of Natural Language Recursion Frontiers in Psychology Cultural Evolution sequence learning language evolution recursion domain-general processes Language faculty |
author_facet |
Morten H Christiansen Morten H Christiansen Morten H Christiansen Nick eChater |
author_sort |
Morten H Christiansen |
title |
The Language Faculty that Wasn't: A Usage-Based Account of Natural Language Recursion |
title_short |
The Language Faculty that Wasn't: A Usage-Based Account of Natural Language Recursion |
title_full |
The Language Faculty that Wasn't: A Usage-Based Account of Natural Language Recursion |
title_fullStr |
The Language Faculty that Wasn't: A Usage-Based Account of Natural Language Recursion |
title_full_unstemmed |
The Language Faculty that Wasn't: A Usage-Based Account of Natural Language Recursion |
title_sort |
language faculty that wasn't: a usage-based account of natural language recursion |
publisher |
Frontiers Media S.A. |
series |
Frontiers in Psychology |
issn |
1664-1078 |
publishDate |
2015-08-01 |
description |
In the generative tradition, the language faculty has been shrinking—perhaps to include only the mechanism of recursion. This paper argues that even this view of the language faculty is too expansive. We first argue that a language faculty is difficult to reconcile with evolutionary considerations. We then focus on recursion as a detailed case study, arguing that our ability to process recursive structure does not rely on recursion as a property of the grammar, but instead emerge gradually by piggybacking on domain-general sequence learning abilities. Evidence from genetics, comparative work on non-human primates, and cognitive neuroscience suggests that humans have evolved complex sequence learning skills, which were subsequently pressed into service to accommodate language. Constraints on sequence learning therefore have played an important role in shaping the cultural evolution of linguistic structure, including our limited abilities for processing recursive structure. Finally, we re-evaluate some of the key considerations that have often been taken to require the postulation of a language faculty. |
topic |
Cultural Evolution sequence learning language evolution recursion domain-general processes Language faculty |
url |
http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fpsyg.2015.01182/full |
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