The mystery of language evolution

Tinbergen's four questions

Proximate viewHow an individual organism's structures function:

• Ontogeny: Developmental explanations for changes in individuals, from the molecular interactions to their form.

• Mechanism (causation): Mechanistic explanations for how an organism's organs work

Evolutionary (ultimate) viewWhy a species evolved the structures (adaptations) it has.

• Phylogeny: The history of the evolution of sequential changes in a species over many generations.

• Adaptation (function): A species trait that solves a reproductive or survival problem in the current environment

• Ontogeny: Developmental explanations for changes in individuals, from the molecular interactions to their form.

• Mechanism (causation): Mechanistic explanations for how an organism's organs work

Proximate explanations to how language occurs are well known

Somatosensory representation of the human body in the cortex

Figure 4.1: Simplified hominin phylogeny. After Lewin and Foley (2004) p. 17

Evolutionary (ultimate) viewWhy a species evolved the structures (adaptations) it has.

• Phylogeny: The history of the evolution of sequential changes in a species over many generations.

• Adaptation (function): A species trait that solves a reproductive or survival problem in the current environment

Barney et al, 2011

The authors focus on 4 domains of inquiry to discuss if they contribute to theories of language evolution.

Animal studies Paleontology and archaeology

Molecular Biology Modelling