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What's left in language? Beyond the classical model
Author(s) -
Corballis Michael C.
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
annals of the new york academy of sciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.712
H-Index - 248
eISSN - 1749-6632
pISSN - 0077-8923
DOI - 10.1111/nyas.12761
Subject(s) - gesture , lateralization of brain function , homo sapiens , human language , psychology , language evolution , cognitive science , sociocultural evolution , dominance (genetics) , communication , cognitive psychology , linguistics , computer science , biology , history , sociology , artificial intelligence , philosophy , biochemistry , archaeology , anthropology , gene
Until recently it was widely held that language, and its left‐hemispheric representation in the brain, were uniquely human, emerging abruptly after the emergence of Homo sapiens . Changing views of language suggest that it was not a recent and sudden development in human evolution, but was adapted from dual‐stream circuity long predating hominins, including a system in nonhuman primates specialized for intentional grasping. This system was gradually tailored for skilled manual operations (praxis) and communication. As processing requirements grew more demanding, the neural circuits were increasingly lateralized, with the left hemisphere assuming dominance, at least in the majority of individuals. The trend toward complexity and lateralization was probably accelerated in hominins when bipedalism freed the hands for more complex manufacture and tool use, and more expressive communication. The incorporation of facial and vocal gestures led to the emergence of speech as the dominant mode of language, although gestural communication may have led to generative language before speech became dominant. This scenario provides a more Darwinian perspective on language and its lateralization than has been commonly assumed.