Cognition and Social Dynamics Play a Major Role in the Formation of Grammar (original) (raw)
2009, Biological Foundations and Origin of Syntax
Modeling is an essential tool in all sciences and it has also a contribution to make to the study of the origins and evolution of human languages. Modeling can help us understand what kind of mechanisms are necessary and sufficient for the origins and evolution of language. It makes it possible to examine through mathematical investigations and computational simulations whether certain basic assumptions of a theory are viable or not. This paper examines models that explore the role of cognition and social interaction in the formation of grammar. After a brief survey of some ongoing experiments, we look at the kinds of structures and processes that have been shown to be effective. I argue that neither the grammatical structure of human languages nor the conceptual inventories expressed in language need to be strongly innate and hence that the role of biology is primarily to provide the powerful cognitive machinery which constitutes the foundation of human intelligence in general.
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