The Origins of Meaning (Oxford Studies in the Evolution of Language (8))

In this, the first of two ground-breaking volumes on the nature of language in the light of the way it evolved, James Hurford looks at how the world first came to have a meaning in the minds of animals and how in humans this meaning eventually came to be expressed as language. He reviews a mass of evidence to show how close some animals, especially primates and more especially apes, are to the brink of human language. Apes may not talk to us but they construct rich cognitive representations of the world around them, and here, he shows, are the evolutionary seeds of abstract thought - the means of referring to objects, the memory of events, even elements of the propositional thinking philosophers have hitherto reserved for humans. What then, he asks, is the evolutionary path between the non-speaking minds of apes and our own speaking minds? Why don't apes communicate the richness of their thoughts to each other? Why do humans alone have a unique disposition to reveal their thoughts in complex detail? Professor Hurford searches a wide range of evidence for the answers to these central questions, including degrees of trust, the role of hormones, the ability to read minds, and the willingness to cooperate. Expressing himself congenially in consistently colloquial language the author builds up a vivid picture of how mind, language, and meaning evolved over millions of years. His book is a landmark contribution to the understanding of linguistic and thinking processes, and the fullest account yet published of the evolution of language and communication. "A wonderful read - lucid, informative, and entertaining, while at the same time never talking down to the reader by sacrificing argumentation for the sake of 'simplicity'. Likely to be heralded as the major publication dealing with language evolution to date. Frederick J. Newmeyer, University of Washington

In this, the first of two ground-breaking volumes on the nature of language in the light of the way it evolved, James Hurford looks at how the world first came to have a meaning in the minds of animals and how in humans this meaning eventually came to be expressed as language. He reviews a mass of evidence to show how close some animals, especially primates and more especially apes, are to the brink of human language. Apes may not talk to us but they construct rich cognitive representations of the world around them, and here, he shows, are the evolutionary seeds of abstract thought - the means of referring to objects, the memory of events, even elements of the propositional thinking philosophers have hitherto reserved for humans. What then, he asks, is the evolutionary path between the non-speaking minds of apes and our own speaking minds? Why don't apes communicate the richness of their thoughts to each other? Why do humans alone have a unique disposition to reveal their thoughts in complex detail? Professor Hurford searches a wide range of evidence for the answers to these central questions, including degrees of trust, the role of hormones, the ability to read minds, and the willingness to cooperate.

Expressing himself congenially in consistently colloquial language the author builds up a vivid picture of how mind, language, and meaning evolved over millions of years. His book is a landmark contribution to the understanding of linguistic and thinking processes, and the fullest account yet published of the evolution of language and communication.

A wonderful read - lucid, informative, and entertaining, while at the same time never talking down to the reader by sacrificing argumentation for the sake of 'simplicity'. Likely to be heralded as the major publication dealing with language evolution to date. Frederick J. Newmeyer, University of Washington

Front Cover ......Page 1 Title Page ......Page 4 Copyright ......Page 5 Contents......Page 6 Acknowledgements......Page 8 Preface......Page 10 PART ONE Meaning Before Communication......Page 16 1. Let’s Agree on Terms......Page 18 2. Animals Approach Human Cognition......Page 35 3. A New Kind of Memory Evolves......Page 80 4. Animals Form Proto-propositions......Page 103 5. Towards Human Semantics......Page 138 PART TWO Communication: What and Why?......Page 180 6. Communication by Dyadic Acts......Page 182 7. Going Triadic: Precursors of Reference......Page 220 8. Why Communicate? Squaring with Evolutionary Theory......Page 258 9. Cooperation, Fair Play, and Trust in Primates......Page 322 10. Epilogue and Prologue......Page 346 Bibliography......Page 350 Index......Page 388 Blank Page......Page 349 Blank Page......Page 387 In this, the first of two ground-breaking volumes on the nature of language in the light of the way it evolved, James Hurford looks at the origins of meaning and of its expression in language and reviews a mass of evidence to uncover the evolutionary path between the non-speaking minds of apes and our own speaking minds. This is a landmark contribution to the understanding of linguistic and thinking processes, and the fullest account yet published of the evolution of language andcommunication "In this engagingly written and broadly interdisciplinary book, Jim Hurford integrates findings from ethology and neuroscience with concepts from philosophy and linguistics to make an explicit and convincing case that animals have rich concepts, and thus that meaning predated language. This is a work of broad scope and significance." W. Tecumesh Fitch, Lecturer in Psychology, University of St. Andrews, from the bookjacket.