The origin and evolution of language: a plausible, strong-AI account

Abstract

A large part of the mystery of the origin of language is the difficulty we experience in trying to imagine what the intermediate stages along the way to language could have been. An elegant, detailed, formal account of how discourse interpretation works in terms of a mode of inference called abduction, or inference to the best explanation, enables us to spell out with some precision a quite plausible sequence of such stages. In this chapter I outline plausible sequences for two of the key features of language − Gricean nonnatural meaning and syntax. I then speculate on the time in the evolution of modern humans each of these steps may have occurred. FRAMEWORKIn this chapter I show in outline how human language as we know it could have evolved incrementally from mental capacities it is reasonable to attribute to lower primates and other mammals. I do so within the framework of a formal computational theory of language understanding (Hobbs et al., 1993). In the first section I describe some of the key elements in the theory, especially as it relates to the evolution of linguistic capabilities. In the next two sections I describe plausible incremental paths to two key aspects of language − --meaning and syntax. In the final section I discuss various considerations of the time course of these processes. Strong AIIt is desirable for psychology to provide a reduction in principle of intelligent, or intentional, behavior to neurophysiology. Because of the extreme complexity of the human brain, more than the sketchiest account is not likely to be possible in the near future. Nevertheless, the central metaphor of cognitive science, "The brain is a computer", gives us hope. Prior to the computer metaphor, we had no idea of what could possibly be the bridge between beliefs and ion transport. Now we have an idea. In the long history of inquiry into the nature of mind, the

Interpreting Semitic Protolanguage as a Conlag or Constructed Language I

“…The subtlety of this pure physical phenomenon, of its philosophical and theoretical repercussions and accommodations, and of related theoretical experimental discoveries which might one day lead to the creation of presently still even theoretically unconceivable Quantum Computer, most strikingly contrasts with the 19th century scientism still limiting and burdening the imagination of many cognitive scientists-as illustrated by the following recent credo (Hobbs, 2007), found in the mentioned above and otherwise very instructive compendium (Arbib, 2007) on the mirror system hypothesis on the linkage of action and language:…”

Toward a Formal Theory of Information Structure

“…The nominal compound can be seen as a relic of protolanguage in modern English; the relation between the two nouns might be a predicate-argument relation, as in "language origin", but it might be any other relation as well, as in "turpentine jar". Hobbs (2006) tells an incremental story of the evolution of syntax that begins with protolanguage. Then constraints are added to the effect that adjacency is interpreted as predicate-argument relations.…”

“…One of the key tasks in explaining the evolution of something is hypothesizing incremental steps in its development where each new advancement confers an advantage. Hobbs (2006) describes just such a plausible sequence of steps for Gricean nonnatural meaning and natural language syntax. Here we will sketch this account very briefly.…”