Indexical Objects, Syntax, and Language or How to Tell a Story Without Words

Language—often said to set human beings apart from other animals—has resisted explanation in terms of evolution. Language has—among others—two fundamental and distinctive features: syntax and the ability to express non-present actions and events. We suggest that the relation between this representation (of non-present action) and syntax can be analyzed as a relation between a function and a structure to fulfill this function. The strategy of the paper is to ask if there is any evidence of pre-linguistic communication that fulfills the function of communicating an absent action. We identify a structural similarity between understanding indexes of past actions of conspecifics (who did what to whom) and one of the simplest and most paradigmatic linguistic syntactic patterns – that of the simple transitive sentence. When a human being infers past events from an index (i.e., a trace, the conditions of a conspecifics or an animal, a constellation or an object) the interpreters’ comprehension must rely on concepts similar in structure and function to the ‘thematic roles’ believed to underpin the comprehension of linguistic syntax: in his or her mind the idea of a past action or event emerges along with thematic role-like concepts; in the case of the presentation of, e.g., a hunting trophy, the presenter could be understood to be an agent (subject) and the trophy a patient (direct object), while the past action killed is implied by the condition of the object and its possession by the presenter. We discuss whether both the presentation of a trophy and linguistic syntax might have emerged independently while having the same function (to represent a past action) or whether the presentation of an index of a deed could constitute a precursor of language. Both possibilities shed new light on early, and maybe first, language use

How Language and Human Altruism Evolved Hand in Hand — The Backchannel Hypothesis

This paper contributes to two debates: the debate about language evolution and the debate about the foundations of human collaboration. While both cooperation and language may give the impression of being adaptations that evolved for the “good of the group,” it is well established that the evolution of complex traits cannot be a direct result of group selection. In this paper I suggest how this tension can be solved: both language and cooperation evolved in a unique two-level evolutionary system which was triggered by a well-documented geological event—the drying out of the climate—in East Africa, which subsequently reduced the intermating between groups and thus made it possible that the mechanism that produced differences between groups (including social forms of selection such as female choice) could be the target of natural selection on the group level. If a social form of selection (e.g., sexual selection) produced differences in fitness between groups, the displacement process between groups would indirectly select those forms of social selection that produce groups that would displace all others. The main hypothesis presented in this paper is that, in this situation, a backchannel between the two levels of selection naturally evolves. A backchannel between the two levels would, for example, emerge when sexual selection (or any other form of social selection) was sensitive to the individual’s contribution to the group. Examples of systems utilizing a backchannel are nerve cells being better nourished when used more frequently, enabling them to be conducive to the survival of the whole organism, or a law firm in which all employees get paid to the extent that they contribute to the survival and success of the firm. In both cases, the selection on the higher level informs the selection on the lower level. The aim of the paper is to illuminate these rather opaque claims, to which the reader probably has many objections in this abridged form.Peer Reviewe

How language evolved as a backchannel between two feedback loops

Language is what makes us human. It is the basis of human knowledge, culture, and society. Despite its importance, how language evolved is still a mystery. Various recent studies suggest that humans developed through a "super-fast" evolutionary process found nowhere else within the animal kingdom. This suggests a discontinuity in the evolutionary process itself. We propose the following model: Humans evolved in a unique evolutionary system consisting of two feedback loops, there being a backchannel between them; the lower loop producing the variations needed for selection in the upper loop to take place. What is meant by the "backchannel" here is a structure enabling the selection of the lower loop to "anticipate" the selection of the upper one. The content of this backchannel is displaced action encoded in narration. We show that not only the human brain and language but also most of the unique human faculties (including theory of mind, episodic memory and the unique human altruism) are adapted almost exclusively to developing the functioning of the backchannel (narration) at a super-fast evolutionary pace

Kundschaften mittels Sprache: Südasien in Translation

In einem persönlich gehaltenen Rückblick erlaubt die Übersetzerin Ingrid von Heiseler zum einen Einblick in ihr umfangreiches Œuvre. Zum anderen wird ihre Annäherung an die Tätigkeit als solche deutlich: Die Übertragung einer kulturell geformten Wirklichkeit in ein anderes Milieu ist nicht nur eine Frage der Sprachfertigkeit, sondern sie verlangt auch Einfühlungsvermögen und technisches Handwerk. Sie hat das Ziel, die spezifische Wirkung von Begriffen und Aussagen möglichst authentisch in eine andere Begriffswelt zu übertragen. Dies ist ein Unterfangen, das immer wieder neu zu bewerkstelligen ist, so auch der Heftbeitrag zum Werkstattgespräch in Zürich. Darin zeigt sich: Die handwerklichen Herausforderungen sind inzwischen andere geworden

Ein Leben in Würde: Paschtunen begehren auf

Die Verbitterung über die abschätzige Behandlung von Paschtunen durch den pakistanischen Staat hat sich lange Zeit zusammengebraut. Der Unmut kochte über, als die Polizei Naqeebullah Mehsud bei einem gestellten Aufeinandertreffen erschoss. Naqeebullah Mehsud arbeitete als Modell und war im Begriff, Karriere zu machen. Die außergerichtliche Tötung fällt in eine Zeit, in der sich die Paschtunen in Pakistan Gehör zu verschaffen suchen und eine würdevolle Existenz einfordern. Betrachtungen persönlicher Art wie die folgende sind eher selten, da die Paschtunen oft genug stereotyp als aufrührerisch abgestempelt werden

Syntax of Testimony: Indexical Objects, Syntax, and Language or How to Tell a Story Without Words

Language—often said to set human beings apart from other animals—has resisted explanation in terms of evolution. Language has—among others—two fundamental and distinctive features: syntax and the ability to express non-present actions and events. We suggest that the relation between this representation (of non-present action) and syntax can be analyzed as a relation between a function and a structure to fulfill this function. The strategy of the paper is to ask if there is any evidence of pre-linguistic communication that fulfills the function of communicating an absent action. We identify a structural similarity between understanding indexes of past actions of conspecifics (who did what to whom) and one of the simplest and most paradigmatic linguistic syntactic patterns – that of the simple transitive sentence. When a human being infers past events from an index (i.e., a trace, the conditions of a conspecifics or an animal, a constellation or an object) the interpreters’ comprehension must rely on concepts similar in structure and function to the ‘thematic roles’ believed to underpin the comprehension of linguistic syntax: in his or her mind the idea of a past action or event emerges along with thematic role-like concepts; in the case of the presentation of, e.g., a hunting trophy, the presenter could be understood to be an agent (subject) and the trophy a patient (direct object), while the past action killed is implied by the condition of the object and its possession by the presenter. We discuss whether both the presentation of a trophy and linguistic syntax might have emerged independently while having the same function (to represent a past action) or whether the presentation of an index of a deed could constitute a precursor of language. Both possibilities shed new light on early, and maybe first, language use

Die Herrschaft der Gnade: Interview mit dem Erzbischof von Lahore

Sebastian Francis Shaw (geboren 1957) ist Erzbischof von Lahore, Hauptstadt der Provinz Punjab in Pakistan. Er ist Vorsitzender einiger nationaler katholischer Kommissionen, darunter die nationale Kommission für interreligiösen Dialog und Ökumene. Erzbischof Shaw ist im Oktober 2019 mit dem nationalen Friedenspreis Pakistans ausgezeichnet worden. Das folgende Interview wurde im Juni 2017 während seines Besuches bei Erzbischof Anders Aurelius von Stockholm geführt. Erzbischof Shaw spricht von Christen oder Muslimen und meint Menschen beiderlei Geschlechts