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Roots of language was originally published in 1981 by Karoma Press (Ann Arbor). It was the first work to systematically develop a theory first suggested by Coelho in the late nineteenth century: that the creation of creole languages somehow reflected universal properties of language. The book also proposed that the same set of properties would be found to emerge in normal first-language acquisition and must have emerged in the original evolution of language. These proposals, some of which were elaborated in an article in Behavioral and Brain Sciences (1984), were immediately controversial and gave rise to a great deal of subsequent research in creoles, much of it aimed at rebutting the theory. The book also served to legitimize and stimulate research in language evolution, a topic regarded as off-limits by linguists for over a century. The present edition contains a foreword by the author bringing the theory up to date; a fuller exposition of many of its aspects can be found in the author’s most recent work, More than nature needs (Harvard University Press, 2014).

E-books --- Philology. Linguistics --- Linguistics --- Language and languages --- Origin. --- Origin of languages --- Speech --- Origin --- pidgin --- creole --- language origins --- language evolution --- Semantics --- Stratum (linguistics) --- Verb

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In dealing with the nature of protolanguage, an important formative factor in its development, and one that would surely have influenced that nature, has too often been neglected: the precise circumstances under which protolanguage arose. Three factors are involved in this neglect: a failure to appreciate radical differences between the functions of language and animal communication, a failure to relate developments to the overall course of human evolution, and the supposition that protolanguage represents a package, rather than a series of separate developments that sequentially impacted the communication of pre-humans. An approach that takes these factors into account is very briefly suggested.

Etymology --- Historical linguistics --- Psycholinguistics --- Language and languages --- Language acquisition. --- Human evolution. --- Historical linguistics. --- Etymology. --- Diachronic linguistics --- Dynamic linguistics --- Evolutionary linguistics --- Language and history --- Linguistics --- Evolution (Biology) --- Physical anthropology --- Evolutionary psychology --- Human beings --- Acquisition of language --- Developmental linguistics --- Developmental psycholinguistics --- Language development in children --- Psycholinguistics, Developmental --- Interpersonal communication in children --- Grammar, Comparative and general --- Word history --- Historical lexicology --- History --- Origin --- Acquisition --- Derivation --- Langage et langues --- Langage --- Homme --- Linguistique historique --- Étymologie --- Évolution --- Langues --- Etymologie --- Évolution

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Interdisciplinary perspectives on the evolutionary & biological roots of syntax, describing current research on syntax in fields ranging from linguistics to neurology.

Grammar, Comparative and general --- Biolinguistics --- Syntax --- Biology --- Linguistics --- LINGUISTICS & LANGUAGE/General --- Grammar --- Philology