The Emergence of Modern Languages: Has Human Self-Domestication Optimized Language Transmission?

Benítez‐Burraco, Antonio; Kempe, Vera

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2018.00551

Cited by 35 publications

(39 citation statements)

References 104 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Regarding the cultural niche that enables (and fosters) language complexity and the acquisition of language by the child, different hypotheses have been launched about its nature and origins. A recent, promising view is that human self-domestication favored the creation of the niche that allowed us to fully exploit the cognitive potential of our language-ready brain, enabling us to learn and accommodate more complex linguistic structures and ultimately, increasing language complexity via a cultural process (Thomas, 2014;Benítez-Burraco et al, 2016, Benítez-Burraco andKempe, 2018;Thomas and Kirby, 2018).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Williams syndrome, human self-domestication, and language evolution

Niego¹,

Benítez‐Burraco²

2018

Preprint

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Language evolution resulted from changes in our biology, behavior, and culture. One source of these changes might be human self-domestication. Williams syndrome (WS) is a clinical condition with a clearly defined genetic basis and resulting in a distinctive behavioral and cognitive profile, including enhanced sociability. In this paper we show evidence that the WS phenotype can be satisfactorily construed as a hyper-domesticated human phenotype, plausibly resulting from the effect of the WS hemydeletion on several candidates for domestication and neural crest function. We also discuss the consequences of this link between domestication and WS for our current understanding of language evolution.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Williams syndrome, human self-domestication, and language evolution

Niego¹,

Benítez‐Burraco²

2018

Preprint

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Without this pressure, languages are expected to exhibit reduced vocabularies and less semantic transparency, with abundance of idioms and idiosyncratic speech, as well as reduced compositional structure. 18 We further argue that human self-domestication, i.e., the adaptation to an ecological niche created by modern humans themselves involving reduced exposure to predation and more consistent food supply that resulted in a relaxation of selection pressures for aggression, was one of the factors that facilitated the emergence of more complex languages via a process of cultural evolution. The arguments for a relationship between (self-)domestication and the emergence of language complexity 19 rest on observations of domesticated birds like the Bengalese finch displaying more complex song patterns, as well as on domesticated mammals like dogs displaying evidence for communicative inference-traits not found in their wild counterparts.…”

Section: Self-domestication and Complex Language Systemsmentioning

confidence: 86%

“…Greater social and technological complexity necessitates greater and more context‐independent and reliable information transmission, which can be achieved through larger vocabularies and more learnable and informative morphosyntax. Without this pressure, languages are expected to exhibit reduced vocabularies and less semantic transparency, with abundance of idioms and idiosyncratic speech, as well as reduced compositional structure …”

Section: Self‐domestication and Complex Language Systemsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Playing with language, creating complexity: Has play contributed to the evolution of complex language?

Langley

Benítez‐Burraco

Kempe

2019

Evolutionary Anthropology

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

We argue that enhanced play may have contributed to the emergence of complex language systems in modern humans (Homo sapiens). To support this idea, we first discuss evidence for an expansion of playing behavior connected to the extended childhood of modern human children, and the potential of this period for the transmission of complex cultural traits, including language. We then link two of the most important functions of play—exploration and innovation—to the potential for cumulative cultural evolution in general and for the emergence of complex language in particular. If correct, the shorter childhood of Neanderthals—involving restrictions on time to experiment and innovate—may have restricted their language (and other symbolic) system/s. Consequently, fully investigating the role that play may have had in the transmission of language and the development of symbolic cultures in both modern humans and Neanderthals provides a new avenue of research for Paleolithic archaeology and related disciplines.

show abstract

“…Finally, regarding language (dis)abilities, it should be noted that human self-domestication has been proposed as a key facilitator of language evolution (Benítez-Burraco and Kempe, 2018; Thomas and Kirby, 2018). Language impairment is a central if overlooked component of BD, with meta-analysis indicating verbal fluency as moderately impaired, with significantly greater impairment in euthymic than manic patients (Raucher-Chéné et al, 2017).…”

Section: Domestication Features In Bdmentioning

confidence: 99%

Abnormal features of human self-domestication in bipolar disorder

Benítez‐Burraco

Hansen

2020

Preprint

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Bipolar disorder (BD) is a severe mental condition characterized by episodes of elevated mood and depression. Being a heritable condition, it features a complex genetic architecture, and it is not still clear how genes contribute to the onset and course of the disease. In this paper we adopted an evolutionary-genomic approach to this condition, focusing on changes occurring during human evolution as a source of our distinctive cognitive and behavioral phenotype. We show clinical evidence that the BD phenotype can be construed as an abnormal presentation of the human self-domestication phenotype. We further demonstrate that candidate genes for BD significantly overlap with candidates for mammal domestication, and that this common set of genes is enriched in functions that are important for the BD phenotype, especially neurotransmitter homeostasis. Finally, we show that candidates for domestication are differentially expressed in brain regions involved in BD pathology, particularly, the hippocampus and the prefrontal cortex. Overall, this link between domestication and BD should facilitate a better understanding of the BD etiopathology.

show abstract

The Emergence of Modern Languages: Has Human Self-Domestication Optimized Language Transmission?

Cited by 35 publications

References 104 publications

Williams syndrome, human self-domestication, and language evolution

Williams syndrome, human self-domestication, and language evolution

Playing with language, creating complexity: Has play contributed to the evolution of complex language?

Abnormal features of human self-domestication in bipolar disorder

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About