GESTURAL ORIGIN OF LANGUAGE: Psyc Call for Commentators

[Stevan Harnad]

Place/Catania: THE ROLE OF THE HAND IN THE EVOLUTION OF LANGUAGE

    The target article whose abstract appears below has today appeared
    in PSYCOLOQUY, a refereed online journal of Open Peer Commentary
    sponsored by the American Psychological Association.

    http://www.cogsci.soton.ac.uk/cgi/psyc/newpsy?11.007
    ftp://ftp.princeton.edu/pub/harnad/Psycoloquy/2000.volume.11/
          psyc.00.11.007.language-gesture.1.place

    OPEN PEER COMMENTARY on this target article is now invited.
    Qualified professional biobehavioural, neural or cognitive
    scientists should consult PSYCOLOQUY's Websites or send email
    (below) for Instructions if not familiar with format or acceptance
    criteria for commentaries (all submissions are refereed).

    To submit articles or to seek information:

    EMAIL:      psyc at pucc.princeton.edu
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                http://www.cogsci.soton.ac.uk/psyc

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psycoloquy.00.11.007.language-gesture.1.place           Sun Jan 23 2000
ISSN 1055-0143                (59 paras, 58 refs, 1 figure, 1281 lines)
PSYCOLOQUY is sponsored by the American Psychological Association (APA)
                Copyright 2000 Ullin T. Place

                THE ROLE OF THE HAND IN THE EVOLUTION OF LANGUAGE
                Target Article on Language Origins

                Ullin T. Place
                School of Philosophy
                University of Leeds
                School of Psychology
                University of Wales, 
                Bangor, Wales
                UK
 
                Charles Catania
                Department of Psychology
                University of Maryland, 
                Baltimore County
                1000 Hilltop Circle
                Baltimore, Maryland 21250 
                USA
                catania at umbc.edu

    ABSTRACT: This target article  has four sections. Section I sets
    out four principles which should guide any attempt to reconstruct
    the evolution of an existing biological characteristic.  Section II
    sets out thirteen principles specific to a reconstruction of the
    evolution of language.  Section III sets out eleven pieces of
    evidence for the view that vocal language must have been preceded
    by an earlier language of gesture.  Based on those principles and
    evidence, Section IV sets out seven proposed stages in the process
    whereby language evolved: (1) the use of mimed movement to indicate
    an action to be performed, (2) the development of referential
    pointing which, when combined with mimed movement, leads to a
    language of gesture, (3) the development of vocalisation, initially
    as a way of imitating the calls of animals, (4) counting on the
    fingers leading into (5) the development of symbolic as distinct
    from iconic representation, (6) the introduction of the practice of
    question and answer, and (7) the emergence of syntax as a way of
    disambiguating utterances that can otherwise be disambiguated only
    by gesture.

    KEYWORDS: evolution, equivalence, gesture, homesigning, iconic,
    language, miming, pointing, protolanguage, referring, sentence,
    symbolic, syntax, vocalisation

    EDITOR'S NOTE: Ullin T. Place died on January 2, 2000. His target
    article had been reviewed for PSYCOLOQUY and was essentially
    complete at the time of his death. Some minor editing has been done
    by PSYCOLOQUY Associate Editor A. Charles Catania, mainly to bring
    the manuscript into conformity with PSYCOLOQUY style. Catania will
    consider replying to commentaries on this article, but also
    welcomes the participation of others who may feel they are
    familiar enough with Place's perspectives to do so.

Retrieve the full target article at:

    http://www.cogsci.soton.ac.uk/cgi/psyc/newpsy?11.007
or
    ftp://ftp.princeton.edu/pub/harnad/Psycoloquy/2000.volume.11/
          psyc.00.11.007.language-gesture.1.place