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Chater N, Christiansen MH. Language evolution as cultural evolution: how language is shaped by the brain. Wiley Interdiscip Rev Cogn Sci. 2010;1(5):623-628doi: 10.1002/wcs.85.
Chater, N., & Christiansen, M. H. (2010). Language evolution as cultural evolution: how language is shaped by the brain. Wiley interdisciplinary reviews. Cognitive science, 1(5), 623-628. https://doi.org/10.1002/wcs.85
Chater, Nick, and Christiansen, Morten H. "Language evolution as cultural evolution: how language is shaped by the brain." Wiley interdisciplinary reviews. Cognitive science vol. 1,5 (2010): 623-628. doi: https://doi.org/10.1002/wcs.85
Chater N, Christiansen MH. Language evolution as cultural evolution: how language is shaped by the brain. Wiley Interdiscip Rev Cogn Sci. 2010 Sep;1(5):623-628. doi: 10.1002/wcs.85. Epub 2010 May 11. PMID: 26271649.
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Wiley Interdiscip Rev Cogn Sci. 2010 Sep;1(5):623-628. doi: 10.1002/wcs.85. Epub 2010 May 11.

Language evolution as cultural evolution: how language is shaped by the brain.

Wiley interdisciplinary reviews. Cognitive science

Nick Chater, Morten H Christiansen

Affiliations

  1. Cognitive, Perceptual and Brain Sciences, Division of Psychology and Language Sciences, University College London, London, WC1E 6BT, UK.
  2. Department of Psychology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA.
  3. Santa Fe Institute, 1399 Hyde Park Road, Santa Fe, NM 87501, USA.

PMID: 26271649 DOI: 10.1002/wcs.85

Abstract

This paper reviews arguments against the evolutionary plausibility of a traditional genetically specified universal grammar. We argue that no such universal grammar could have evolved, either by a process of natural selection or by other evolutionary mechanisms. Instead, we propose that the close fit between languages and language learners, which make language acquisition possible, arises not because humans possess a specialized biological adaptation for language, but because language has been shaped to fit the brain, a process of cultural evolution. On this account, many aspects of the structure of human languages may be explained as cultural adaptations to the human brain. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. For further resources related to this article, please visit the WIREs website.

Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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