How Language Began

Gesture and Speech in Human Evolution

Nonfiction, Reference & Language, Language Arts, Linguistics, Health & Well Being, Psychology
Cover of the book How Language Began by David McNeill, Cambridge University Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: David McNeill ISBN: 9781139564540
Publisher: Cambridge University Press Publication: August 30, 2012
Imprint: Cambridge University Press Language: English
Author: David McNeill
ISBN: 9781139564540
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Publication: August 30, 2012
Imprint: Cambridge University Press
Language: English

Human language is not the same as human speech. We use gestures and signs to communicate alongside, or instead of, speaking. Yet gestures and speech are processed in the same areas of the human brain, and the study of how both have evolved is central to research on the origins of human communication. Written by one of the pioneers of the field, this is the first book to explain how speech and gesture evolved together into a system that all humans possess. Nearly all theorizing about the origins of language either ignores gesture, views it as an add-on or supposes that language began in gesture and was later replaced by speech. David McNeill challenges the popular 'gesture-first' theory that language first emerged in a gesture-only form and proposes a groundbreaking theory of the evolution of language which explains how speech and gesture became unified.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

Human language is not the same as human speech. We use gestures and signs to communicate alongside, or instead of, speaking. Yet gestures and speech are processed in the same areas of the human brain, and the study of how both have evolved is central to research on the origins of human communication. Written by one of the pioneers of the field, this is the first book to explain how speech and gesture evolved together into a system that all humans possess. Nearly all theorizing about the origins of language either ignores gesture, views it as an add-on or supposes that language began in gesture and was later replaced by speech. David McNeill challenges the popular 'gesture-first' theory that language first emerged in a gesture-only form and proposes a groundbreaking theory of the evolution of language which explains how speech and gesture became unified.

More books from Cambridge University Press

Cover of the book Digital Front-End in Wireless Communications and Broadcasting by David McNeill
Cover of the book The Legal Regime of Straits by David McNeill
Cover of the book EU Law Stories by David McNeill
Cover of the book The Cambridge Companion to the 'Origin of Species' by David McNeill
Cover of the book Nonequilibrium Statistical Physics by David McNeill
Cover of the book Parochialism, Cosmopolitanism, and the Foundations of International Law by David McNeill
Cover of the book The Emperor and the World by David McNeill
Cover of the book Targeted Sanctions by David McNeill
Cover of the book Ethnolinguistics and Cultural Concepts by David McNeill
Cover of the book Changing Societies, Changing Party Systems by David McNeill
Cover of the book Naturalizing Africa by David McNeill
Cover of the book Heart Disease and Pregnancy by David McNeill
Cover of the book Market Justice by David McNeill
Cover of the book A Student's Guide to Dimensional Analysis by David McNeill
Cover of the book The Cambridge Companion to Jung by David McNeill
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy