The Evolution of Language: Proceedings of the 7th International Conference (EVOLANG7), Barcelona, Spain 12-15 March 2008 (Proceedings of the 7th International Conference (EVOLANG7))

This volume comprises refereed papers and abstracts from the 7th International Conference on the Evolution of Language (EVOLANG7), held in Barcelona in March 2008. As the leading international conference in the field, the biennial EVOLANG meeting is characterized by an invigorating, multidisciplinary approach to the origins and evolution of human language, and brings together researchers from many fields including anthropology, archeology, artificial life, biology, cognitive science, computer science, ethology, genetics, linguistics, neuroscience, paleontology, primatology, psychology and statistical physics. The latest theoretical, experimental and modeling research on language evolution is presented in this collection. It includes contributions from leading scientists such as Derek Bickerton, Rudolf Botha, Camilo Cela Conde, Francesco d'Erico, Susan Goldin-Meadow, Simon Kirby, Gary Marcus, Steven Pinker, Friedemann Pulvermuller and Juan Uriagereka. Contents......Page 10 Preface......Page 6 Panel of Reviewers......Page 8 Part I: Papers......Page 18 2. Emergence as mergence: Sign+Sign=>Sign and Foot+Foot=>Foot......Page 20 3. The syllable, then the point: whence the word?......Page 22 5. Summary......Page 23 References......Page 25 2. The Explanandum of Grammaticalization......Page 27 3. From Grammaticalization to the Cerebellum and the Basal ganglia......Page 28 4.1. Cerebellar-induced Kalman Gain Reduction in Linguistic Processing......Page 29 4.1.2. Semantic bleaching and proceduralization of conceptual representations......Page 30 4.2. Striatal Regulation of Cortical Unification Operations......Page 31 5. Conclusion......Page 32 References......Page 33 1. The problem......Page 35 2. Second-person belief: An easier path for alien belief grasping......Page 36 3. Applying the easy way for alien belief grasping to historic origin......Page 37 4. There was no need for previous syntax, but a sign with precise referential link was required......Page 38 5. What would a pre-syntactic linguistic sign be like? Trying not to take for granted our own schemes......Page 39 6. Protodeclaratives in their disambiguating role......Page 41 References......Page 42 Two Neglected Factors in Language Evolution Derek Bickerton......Page 43 References......Page 49 1. Introduction......Page 51 2. Grounded semantic constraint networks......Page 52 3. Mapping semantic constraint networks onto language......Page 53 4.1. Starting from scratch......Page 54 4.3. Adding a primitive constraint......Page 55 5. Multi-agent simulation......Page 56 6. Conclusion......Page 57 References......Page 58 1. On a field that is “going places”......Page 59 2. Enter the bugs and the beasts......Page 61 References......Page 64 2. Psycholinguistic Data......Page 68 4. The Role of Prosody......Page 70 5. TheModel......Page 71 6. CorpusAJsage-based Predictions......Page 73 References......Page 74 1. Introduction......Page 76 2. The Bilinguals Model......Page 77 3.1. Regular and small world networks......Page 79 3.2. Social type network with community structure......Page 80 4. Conclusion and Further Research......Page 81 Acknowledgements......Page 82 References......Page 83 1.1. Darwinian Gradualism and Huxley’s Doubt......Page 84 1.2. Saltations Modulated By Sexual Selection......Page 85 1.3. The Xq21.3flp Duplication......Page 86 References......Page 89 1. Introduction......Page 92 2.1. Scenes and Topics......Page 93 2.2. Language Model......Page 94 3. Results......Page 95 4. Discussion and Conclusion......Page 97 References......Page 98 1. Language evolution as a gradual, accretionary process......Page 100 2. Linguistic and genetic causal correlations -the case of linguistic tone, ASPM and Microcephalin......Page 102 3. Linguistic and genetic causal correlations - the mechanism of gradual, accretionary language evolution?......Page 104 References......Page 105 2. Narratives in daily speech......Page 108 3.1. Unexpectedness......Page 111 4. Why are conversational stories told?......Page 112 References......Page 115 1. Introduction......Page 116 2. Modern behaviors and language evolution: the link is still missing......Page 117 4. The level-2 perspective-taking hypothesis......Page 118 5. Implications for the evolution of language......Page 121 References......Page 122 1. An Introduction to Preferred Argument Structure......Page 124 2. Another Look at the Numbers......Page 127 3. A Note on the Preponderance of Nominative Patterns......Page 130 References......Page 131 1. Introduction......Page 132 2. LDDs and human language: the consensus view......Page 134 4. LDDs are not uniquely human......Page 135 5. Some conclusions: LDDs and the evolution of human language......Page 137 References......Page 138 1. Complexity of Language, Complexity of Civilization......Page 140 2. Isolating-Monocategorial-Associational Language......Page 141 3. Riau Indonesian as a Relative IMA Language......Page 142 4. IMA Language is all that's Needed to Sail a Boat......Page 143 5. Why is Grammar so Complex?......Page 145 References......Page 147 1. Introduction......Page 148 2. A brief Review of the Language Emergence Model......Page 149 3. The Cultural Transmission Framework......Page 151 4. The Simulation Results......Page 152 5. Conclusions......Page 154 References......Page 155 I . Introduction......Page 156 2. The Naming Game with a Distance Constraint......Page 158 2.2. Exp. 2: various torus size but frved distance restriction......Page 160 3. Conclusions......Page 162 References......Page 163 1.1. Discourse “motivations”......Page 164 1.2. Evolutionary Game Theory Approach......Page 165 2. On the Origins of Split Ergative Systems......Page 167 2.1. The relationship between A and S roles......Page 170 References......Page 171 What Impact Do Learning Biases have on Linguistic Structures? David J. C. Hawkey......Page 172 1. Three models of learning bias......Page 173 2.1. Learning rules......Page 174 2.2. Results and Explanation......Page 175 3. Discussion......Page 178 References......Page 179 1. Introduction......Page 180 2. Metaphor vs. reanalysis......Page 181 3. Reconstructible meanings......Page 184 4. Conclusion......Page 186 References......Page 187 1. Introduction......Page 188 2. Model......Page 190 3. Results......Page 192 4. Discussion......Page 193 References......Page 194 1.1. Digital minds in an analog world......Page 196 1.2. Analog minds in a digital world......Page 198 1.3. A Darwinian solution......Page 200 References......Page 202 1. Introduction......Page 204 1.1. Assumptions......Page 205 2. The complexity-diversity-effort frontier......Page 206 3.1. Measuring linguistic diversity......Page 207 3.2. Generating diversity......Page 208 4. Scaffolding and staged learning......Page 209 References......Page 211 1. Introduction......Page 212 2.1. Changes relative to previous models......Page 213 2.3. Categories......Page 214 2.4. Category development......Page 215 2.5. Lexical development......Page 216 3. Simulations......Page 217 4. Discussion......Page 218 References......Page 219 1. Introduction......Page 220 3. Recursion and embedding......Page 221 3.1. Recursion......Page 222 4. Conceptual embedding......Page 223 Abbreviations......Page 225 References......Page 226 1. Symbol Systems in Dolphins and Apes......Page 228 2.2. Language Research Center (LRC)......Page 229 2.3. Kewalo Basin Marine Mammal Laboratory (KBMML)......Page 230 3.1. Acquisition and use of artificial systems......Page 231 4. Discussion......Page 233 References......Page 234 1. Introduction......Page 236 2. Model of MCI with an Ecologically Functional Language......Page 237 2.2. The Agent......Page 238 2.3.1. Deception......Page 239 3. Experimental Results......Page 240 4. Conclusions......Page 242 References......Page 243 1. Introduction......Page 244 2. A Three-Level Simulation Model of Self-organizing Lexical Networks......Page 245 2.1. Agent Networking......Page 246 2.3. Association Games......Page 247 3. Experimentation......Page 248 4. Conclusion......Page 249 References......Page 250 1. Introduction......Page 252 2. From parataxis to hypotaxis......Page 253 3. Event individuation and the evolution of syntactic complexity......Page 257 References......Page 258 1. Introduction......Page 260 2. Small-World Networks of Nouns and Verbs in WordNet and TOE......Page 261 3. The Effects of Word Frequency......Page 263 4. An Evolutionary Perspective......Page 265 References......Page 267 1. Introduction......Page 268 2. Towards a serniogenetic theory of the language sign......Page 269 3. Mouth-eye coordination......Page 270 4. Submorphemic evidence for mouth-to-eye transfer from PIE......Page 271 5. Conclusions......Page 273 References......Page 274 1. How to Halve Syntax......Page 276 2. Incredulity Half Clause: Specialization for Mood......Page 277 3. Perfective Half Clauses in English: Specialization for Time/Aspect......Page 279 4. Unaccusative Half Clauses in Serbian: Time, Aspect, Agreement, Word Order......Page 280 5. Retracing the Steps......Page 281 References......Page 282 1. Introduction......Page 284 2. Study 1. Formation of Toponyms......Page 286 3. Study 2. Generative Power of Toponyms......Page 287 4. Study 3. Evolution of Toponym......Page 289 5. General Discussion and Conclusion......Page 290 References......Page 291 1. The Problem of Reliability......Page 292 2. The Handicap Principle......Page 293 3.3. Repeated interactions......Page 294 5. Reputation as Deterrent......Page 295 6. Concluding Remarks......Page 297 References......Page 298 1. Introduction......Page 300 2. The model of learning and cultural transmission......Page 302 3. Evaluating evolutionary stability......Page 303 4. Discussion and conclusions......Page 306 References......Page 307 1.1. Fibonacci Numbers......Page 308 1.2. Syntactic Trees......Page 309 2.1. Argument Structure (External Merge)......Page 310 2.2. Phase Formation (Internal Merge)......Page 312 3. Natural Law and Syntactic Recursion......Page 313 References......Page 315 1. Introduction......Page 316 2. The Classification Game......Page 318 3.1. Driving simplicity: communication without task learning......Page 319 3.2. Driving complexity: task learning without communication......Page 320 3.3. Finding balance: coupled task-communication learning......Page 321 4. Conclusion......Page 322 References......Page 323 1. Introduction: evolution and the components of the language faculty......Page 324 2. Vocalization in early hominin infants and mothers......Page 326 3. Teaching, learning and information exchange......Page 327 4. Where does syntax come from?......Page 329 References......Page 330 1. Introduction......Page 332 2. Quantifying Linguistic Regularity......Page 333 2.1. RegMap from a signal dimension to a meaning dimension......Page 334 2.2. RegMap for the entire language......Page 335 3. Miniature artificial language learning experiments......Page 336 3.1. Results......Page 337 4. Conclusion......Page 338 References......Page 339 1. Introduction......Page 340 2.1. Iizuka and Ikegam. (2004)......Page 341 2.3. Comparison of the two simulations......Page 342 3.2. Two form of collective behaviors......Page 343 4. Discussion: Sentence Typology......Page 346 References......Page 347 1. Syntactic Boundary Conditions......Page 348 2. Where do Standard Accounts Fail to Meet Syntax?......Page 349 3. Towards a Different Approach......Page 351 4. Searching for Real Answers......Page 352 References......Page 353 1. Introduction......Page 355 2. Semantic building blocks......Page 356 3.1. Exumples......Page 357 4. Conceptualisation......Page 358 5. Conclusions......Page 361 References......Page 362 1. Introduction......Page 363 2. Semantic Roles and Fusion in Fluid Construction Grammar......Page 364 3. Experiments on the Emergence of Semantic Roles......Page 367 5. Conclusion......Page 369 References......Page 370 1. Definitions and caveats......Page 371 2. The fundamental constraint on the evolution of communication......Page 372 3. Broadcast transmission......Page 373 4. The costs of signalling in (proto)language......Page 374 5. The secrecy of gestural signals......Page 375 6 . Conclusion......Page 376 References......Page 377 1. The Reciprocal Naming Game......Page 379 2. Agent Architecture......Page 381 4. Experimental Results......Page 382 4.1. Retaliation allows deception to be tolerated......Page 383 4.4. Reciprocation produces coherence in spite of deception......Page 384 References......Page 386 1. Introduction......Page 387 2. Overview of the model......Page 388 3. Experimental results......Page 390 4. Conclusion......Page 392 References......Page 393 1. Introduction......Page 395 2. Shortcomings of the Iterated Learning Approach......Page 396 3. Self-organking Maps and Iterated Learning......Page 397 4. Results......Page 399 5. Conclusions......Page 401 References......Page 402 2. Masking and Unmasking processes......Page 403 3.1. Model Structure......Page 404 5. Analysis......Page 407 6. Conclusion......Page 409 References......Page 410 Part 11: Abstracts......Page 412 Coexisting Linguistic Conventions in Generalized Language Games Andrea Baronchelli, Lucia Dull 'Asta, Alain Barrat and Vittorio Loreto......Page 414 References......Page 415 Complex Systems Approach to Natural Categorization Andrea Baronchelli, Vittorio Loreto and Andrea Puglisi......Page 416 References......Page 417 Regular Morphology as a Cultural Adaptation: Non-Uniform Frequency in an Experimental Iterated Learning Model Arianita Beqa, Simon Kirby and Jim Hurford......Page 418 References......Page 419 2. The neural substrate of tutor song memory in songbirds......Page 420 References......Page 421 Discourse Without Symbols: Orangutans Communicate Strategically in Response to Recipient Understanding Erica Cartmill and Richard W. Byrne......Page 422 References......Page 423 Taking Wittgenstein Seriously: Indicators of the Evolution of Language Camilo J. Cela-Conde, Marcos Nadal, Enric Munar, Antoni Gomila and Victor M. Egui'luz......Page 424 An Experiment Exploring Language Emergence: How to See the Invisible Hand and Why We Should Hannah Cornish......Page 426 References......Page 427 The Syntax of Coordination and the Evolution of Syntax Wayne Cowart and Dana McDaniel......Page 428 References......Page 429 The Archaeology of Language Origin Francesco D'Errico......Page 430 2. Preliminary results......Page 432 References......Page 433 How Complex Syntax Could Be Mike Dowman......Page 434 The Multiple Stages of Protolanguage Mike Dowman......Page 436 References......Page 437 A Human Model of Color Term Evolution Mike Dowman, Ying Xu and Thomas L. Griffiths......Page 438 References......Page 439 Evolution of Song Culture in the Zebra Finch Olga Feher, Partha P. Mitra, Kaeutoshi Sasahara and Ofer Tchernikovski......Page 440 References......Page 441 Iterated Language Learning in Children Molly Flaherty and Simon Kirby......Page 442 References......Page 443 Gesture, Speech and Language Susan Goldin-Meadow......Page 444 References......Page 445 Introducing the Units and Levels of Evolution Debate into Evolutionary Linguistics Nathalie Gontier......Page 446 What can the Study of Handedness in Nonhuman Apes Tell Us about the Evolution of Language? Rebecca Harrison......Page 448 References......Page 449 Unidirectional Meaning Change with Metaphoric and Metonymic Inferencing Takashi Hashimoto and Masaya Nakatsuka......Page 450 References......Page 451 Recent Adaptive Evolution of Human Genes Related to Hearing John Hawks......Page 452 References......Page 453 Inhibition and Language: A Pre-Condition for Symbolic Communicative Behaviour Carlos Hernandez-Sacristan......Page 454 References......Page 455 Pragmatic Plasticity: A Pivotal Design Feature? Stefan Hoefler......Page 456 References......Page 457 Continuity between Non-Human Primates and Modern Humans? Jean-Marie Hombert......Page 458 References......Page 459 After all, a "Leap" is Necessary for the Emergence of Recursion in Human Language Masayuki Ike-Uchi......Page 460 References......Page 461 Labels and Recursion: From Adjunction-Syntax to Predicate-Argument Relations Aritz Irurtzun......Page 462 References......Page 463 Iterated Learning with Selection: Convergence to Saturation Mike Kalish......Page 464 References......Page 465 A Reaction-Diffusion Approach to Modelling Language Competition Anne Kandler and James Steele......Page 466 References......Page 467 Accent Over Race: The Role of Language in Guiding Children's Early Social Preferences Katherine D. Kinzler, Kristin Shutts, Emmanuel Dupoux and Elizabeth S. Spelke......Page 468 References......Page 469 Language, Culture and Biology: Does Language Evolve to be Passed on by Us, and Did Humans Evolve to Let that Happen? Simon Kirby......Page 470 References......Page 471 Selected Publications......Page 472 Three Issues in Modeling the Language Convergence Problem as a Multiagent Agreement Problem Kiran Lakkaraju and Les Gasser......Page 473 References......Page 474 The Development of a Social Signal in Free-Ranging Chimpanzees Marion Laporte and Klaus Zuberbuhler......Page 475 Gestural Modes of Representation - A Multi-Disciplinary Approach Katja Liebal, Hedda Lausberg, Ellen Frincke and Cornelia Muller......Page 477 References......Page 478 Extracommunicative Functions of Language: Verbal Interference Causes Categorization Impairments Gary Lupyan......Page 479 Form-Meaning Compositionality Derives from Social and Conceptual Diversity Gary Lupyan and Rick Dale......Page 481 Language as Kluge Gary Marcus......Page 483 References......Page 484 Origins of Communication in Autonomous Robots Davide Marocco and Stefano Nolfi......Page 485 References......Page 486 Handedness for Gestural Communication and Non-Communicative Actions in Chimpanzees and Baboons: Implications for Language Origins Adrien Meguerditchian, Jacques Vauclair, Molly J. Gardner, Steven J. Schapiro and William D. Hopkins......Page 487 References......Page 488 The Evolution of Hypothetical Reasoning: Intelligibility or Reliability? Hugo Mercier......Page 489 References......Page 490 Simulation of Creolization by Evolutionary Dynamics Makoto Nakamura, Takashi Hashimoto and Satoshi Tojo......Page 491 References......Page 492 Evolution of Phonological Complexity: Loss of Species-Specific Bias Leads to more Generalized Learnability in a Species of Songbirds Kazuo Okanoya and Miki Takahashi......Page 493 References......Page 494 Referential Gestures in Chimpanzees in the Wild: Precursors to Symbolic Communication? Simone Pika and John C. Mitani......Page 495 1. The working memory hypothesis......Page 497 References......Page 498 Mechanistic Language Circuits: What Can be Learned? What is Pre-Wired? Friedemann Pulvermiiller......Page 499 References......Page 500 Reflections on the Invention and Reinvention of the Primate Playback Experiment Greg Radick......Page 502 References......Page 503 An Experimental Approach to the Role of Freerider Avoidance in the Development of Linguistic Diversity Gareth Roberts......Page 504 References......Page 505 Prosody and Linguistic Complexity in an Emerging Language Wendy Sandler, lrit Meir, Svetlana Dachkovsky, Mark Aronoff and Carol Padden......Page 506 References......Page 507 Communication, Cooperation and Coherence Putting Mathematical Models into Perspective Federico Sangati and Jelle Zuidema......Page 508 References......Page 509 A Numerosity-Based Alarm Call System in King Colobus Monkeys Anne Schel, Klaus Zuberbuhler and Sandra Tranquilli......Page 510 On There and Then: From Object Permanence to Displaced Reference Marie ke Sc ho uwst ra......Page 512 References......Page 513 Signalling Signalhood and the Emergence of Communication Thomas C. Scott-Phillips, Simon Kirby and Graham R. S. Ritchie......Page 514 References......Page 515 Wild Chimpanzees Modify the Structure of Victim Screams According to Audience Composition Katie E. Slocombe and Klaus Zuberbuhler......Page 516 References......Page 517 An Experimental Study on the Role of Language in the Emergence and Maintenance of Human Cooperation John W. F. Small and Simon Kirby......Page 518 References......Page 519 Replicator Dynamics of Language Processing Luc Steels and Eors Szathmdry......Page 520 References......Page 521 Syntactical and Prosodic Cues in Song Segmentation Learning by Bengalese Finches Miki Takahashi and Kazuo Okanoya......Page 522 References......Page 523 Why the Transition to Cumulative Symbolic Culture is Rare Mdnica Tamariz......Page 524 References......Page 525 A Gradual Path to Hierarchical Phrase-Structure: Insights from Modeling and Corpus-Data Willem Zuidema......Page 526 References......Page 527 Author Index......Page 528 Is pointing the root of the foot? Grounding the "prosodic word" as a pointing word / Christian Abry and Virginie Ducey -- The subcortical foundations of grammaticalization / Giorgos P. Argyropoulos -- Pragmatics and theory of mind: a problem exportable to the origins of language / Teresa Bejarano -- Two neglected factors in language evolution / Derek Bickerton -- Expressing second order semantics and the emergence of recursion / Joris Bleys -- Unravelling the evolution of language with help from the giant water bug, Natterjack toad and horned lizard / Rudolf Botha -- Linguistic adaptations for resolving ambiguity / Ted Briscoe and Paula Buttery -- Modelling language competition: bilingualism and complex social networks / Xavier Castelló [und weitere] -- Language, the torque and the speciation event / Tim J. Crow -- The emergence of compositionality, hierarchy and recursion in peer-to-peer interactions / Joachim De Beule -- Causal correlations between genes and linguistic features: the mechanism of gradual language evolution / Dan Dediu -- Spontaneous narrative behaviour in Homo Sapiens: how does it benefit speakers? / Jean-Louis Dessalles -- What do modern behaviours in Homo Sapiens imply for the evolution of language? / Benoît Dubreuil -- The origins of preferred argument structure / Caleb Everett -- Long-distance dependencies are not uniquely human / Ramon Ferrer i Cancho, Victor M. Longa and Guillermo Lorenzo -- How much grammar does it take to sail a boat? (or, what can material artifacts tell us about the evolution of language?) / David Gil -- The role of cultural transmission in intention sharing / Tao Gong, James W. Minett and William S-Y. Wang -- The role of naming game in social structure / Tao Gong and William S- Y. Wang -- Do individuals preferences determine case marking systems? / David J.C. Hawkey -- What impact do learning biases have on linguistic structures? / David J.C. Hawkey -- Reanalysis vs metaphor: what grammaticalisation CAN tell us about language evolution / Stefan Hoefler and Andrew D.M. Smith -- Seeking compositionality in holistic proto-language without substructure: do counter-examples overwhelm the fractionation process? / Sverker Johansson -- Unravelling digital infinity / Chris Knight and Camilla Power -- Language scaffolding as a condition for growth in linguistic complexity / Kiran Lakkaraju, Les Gasser and Samarth Swarup -- The emergence of a lexicon by prototype-categorising agents in a structured infinite world / Cyprian Laskowski -- Evolutionary framework for the language faculty / Erkki Luuk and Hendrik Luuk -- Artificial symbol systems in dolphins and apes: analogous communicative evolution? / Heidi Lyn -- The adaptiveness of metacommunicative interaction in a foraging environment / Zoran Macura and Jonathan Ginzburg -- On the impact of community structure on self-organizing lexical networks / Alexander Mehler -- A crucial step in the evolution of syntactic complexity / Juan C. Moreno Cabrera -- Evolution of the global organization of the lexicon / Mieko Ogura and William S-Y. Wang -- From mouth to eye / Dennis Philps -- What use is half a clause? / Ljiljiana Progovac -- The formation, generative power, and evolution of toponyms: grounding vocabulary in a cognitive map / Ruth Schulz [und weitere] -- On the correct application of animal signalling theory to human communication / Thomas C. Scott-Phillips -- Natural selection for communication favours the cultural evolution of linguistic structure / Kenny Smith and Simon Kirby -- Syntax, a system of efficient growth / Alona Soschen -- Simple, but not too simple: learnability vs. functionality in language evolution / Samarth Swarup and Les Gasser -- Kin selection and linguistic complexity / Maggie Tallerman -- Regularity in mappings between signals and meanings / Mónica Tamariz and Andrew D.M. Smith -- Emergence of sentence types in simulated adaptive agents / Ryoko Uno [und weitere] -- Desperately evolving syntax / Juan Uriagereka -- Constraint-based compositional semantics / Wouter Van Den Broeck -- The emergence of semantic roles in fluid construction grammar / Remi Van Trijp -- Broadcast transmission, signal secrecy and gestural primacy hypothesis / Slawomir Wacewicz and Przemystaw Żywiczyński -- Self-interested agents can bootstrap symbolic communication if they punish cheaters / Emily Wang and Luc Steels -- Coping with combinatorial uncertainty in word learning: a flexible usage-based model / Pieter Wellens -- Removing 'mind-reading' from the iterated learning model / Simon F. Worgan and Robert I. Damper -- How does Niche construction in learning environment trigger the reverse Baldwin effect? / Hajime Tamauchi -- Coexisting linguistic conventions in generalized language games / Andrea Baronchelli [und weitere] -- Complex systems approach to natural categorization / Andrea Baronchelli, Vittorio Loreto and Andrea Puglisi -- Regular morphology as a cultural adaptation: non-uniform frequency in an experimental iterated learning model / Arianita Beqa, Simon Kirby and Jim Hurford -- Neural dissociation between vocal production and auditory recognition memory in both songbirds and humans / Johan J. Bolhuis -- Discourse without symbols: orangutans communicate strategically in response to recipient understanding / Erica Cartmill and Richard W. Byrne -- Taking Wittgenstein seriously: indicators of the evolution of language / Camilo J. Cela-Conde [und weitere] -- An experiment exploring language emergence: how to see the invisible hand and why we should / Hannah Cornish -- The syntax of coordination and the evolution of syntax / Wayne Cowart and Dana McDaniel -- The archaeology of language origin / Francesco D'Errico -- The joy of sacs / Bart De Boer -- How complex syntax could be / Mike Dowman -- The multiple stages of protolanguage / Mike Dowman -- A human model of color term evolution / Mike Dowman, Ying Xu and Thomas L. Griffiths -- Evolution of song culture in the zebra finch / Olga Feher [und weitere] -- Iterated language learning in children / Molly Flaherty and Simon Kirby -- Gesture, Speech and Language / Susan Goldin-Meadow -- Introducing the units and levels of evolution debate into evolutionary linguistics / Nathalie Gontier -- What can the study of handedness in nonhuman apes tell us about the evolution of language? / Rebecca Harrison -- Unidirectional meaning change with metaphoric and metonymic inferencing / Takashi Hashimoto and Masaya Nakatsuka -- Recent adaptive evolution of human genes related to hearing / John Hawks -- Inhibition and language: a pre-condition for symbolic communicative behaviour / Carlos Hernández-Sacristán -- Pragmatic plasticity: a pivotal design feature? / Stefan Hoefler -- Continuity between non-human primates and modern humans? / Jean-Marie Hombert -- After all, a "Leap" is necessary for the emergence of recursion in human language / Masayuki Ike-Uchi -- Labels and recursion: from adjunction-syntax to predicate-argument relations / Aritz Irurtzun This volume comprises refereed papers and abstracts from the 7th International Conference on the Evolution of Language (EVOLANG7), held in Barcelona in March 2008. As the leading international conference in the field, the biennial EVOLANG meeting is characterized by an invigorating, multidisciplinary approach to the origins and evolution of human language, and brings together researchers from many fields including anthropology, archeology, artificial life, biology, cognitive science, computer science, ethology, genetics, linguistics, neuroscience, paleontology, primatology, psychology and statistical physics.The latest theoretical, experimental and modeling research on language evolution is presented in this collection. It includes contributions from leading scientists such as Derek Bickerton, Rudolf Botha, Camilo Cela Conde, Francesco d'Erico, Susan Goldin-Meadow, Simon Kirby, Gary Marcus, Friedemann Pulvermüller and Juan Uriagereka.