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HomoErectusandtheSemio2cProgression

(From:HowLanguageBegan:TheStoryofHumanity’sGreatestInven;on

W.W.Norton;DLEvereB)

DanielL.Evere=BentleyUniversityAugust08,2016

devereB@bentley.edu

PrincipalPointsPoint1:Languageisprimarilyatoolforcommunica2on,notthoughtexpression.Point2:Languagehasitsrootsin(likely)inten2onaliconicityofAustralopithecinesandprobablyhadreachedthelevelofaG1grammar(linearorderingofsymbols+gestures&pitchmodula2on,ortrialityofpa=erning)morethanonemillionyearsago.Point3:Laterformsoflanguage,e.g.hierarchical,recursivegrammars,arelaterembellishmentsthatarefunc2onallyuseful(Simon1962)yetareneithernecessarynorsufficienttohavehumanlanguage.Point4:Howmightarchaeologicalevidencesuggestatransi2onfromindexesandiconstosymbolsPoint5:HomoerectusistheinventoroflanguageviasymbolsPoint6:Symbolsledtotrialityofpa=erning,thehallmarkofallhumanlanguages.Other:Languageisforconversa7onandisalwaysunderdetermined.

CentralThesis

•  The“Semio7cProgression”(indexes—>icons—>symbols—>triality)predictedimplicitlybyC.S.PeirceoffersthebestmodeltheappearanceoflanguageinthegenusHomo.

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LanguageisMul2modal

Society

Culture

Value rankings-Roles-Knowledge

Grammar

Psychology

Lexicon

LANGUAGEPhoneticsSemantics

History

Figure OneLanguage is a nexus

Pragmatics

Utterances

Discourse

Conversational Analysis

Signs

Form-meaningcomposites

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Grammar

SymbolsinSlot:FillerarrangementGestures,Intona2on

TheSemio2cProgression

1 1

2

3

FIGURE TWO The Semiotic Progression

Index || Non-intentional, non-arbitrary linkage between form and meaning

Icon || Intentional, non-arbitrary linkage between form and meaning

Symbol

Sign || Intentional, arbitary linkage between form and meaning

Referent

Duality of patterning gestures || Form analysis and synthesis

Compositionality

Linearity: G

gestures

Modern Language is reached at G

Hierarchy: G

Recursion: G

Indexes

•  Allanimals–physicalconnec2onto“referent”

•  Noninten2onal•  Nonarbitrary

Icons

•  Physicalresemblance•  Inten2onal•  Nonarbitrary•  Displacement/representa2on

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Symbols

•  1.Arbitrary•  2.Inten2onal•  3.Displacement•  4.Saussurevs.Peirce– Peirce’sideasarebothearlierandmorear2culatedthanSaussure’s

– Theinterpretant–uniquewithPeirce

Erectusvs.habilis,heidelbergensis,etc.

•  Irecognizeonlythreespecies(phylogen2c/ecologicalspecies,notnecessarily“breedingdivided”species)–Homoerectus,Homoneanderthalensis,Homosapiens.

•  ThegenusHomoischangingconstantly,butwhetherthevariousnamesofproposedspeciescanbelinkedsa2sfyinglytobiological,phenotypical,orecologicalno2onsof“species”isdebatable.Inthemean2me,GOERECTUS

Indexes:AllanimalsareontheSemio;cprogression

Australopithecusafarensis(3.9-2.9mya)

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Indexes(Au.af.):LaetoliFootprints:ca.3.7mya Icons

AustralopithecusafricanusMakapangsgatPebble

ca3mya

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OurHero Travelsoferectus•  MIDDLEEAST:•  GesherBenotYa'aqov(790kya)•  Erqal-Ahmar(1.95mya)•  Ubeidya(1.4mya)•  BizatRuhama(1.96mya)•  ITALY•  PirroNord(1.6mya)•  TURKEY•  Dursunlu(before1mya)•  IRAN•  Kashafrud(before1mya)•  PAKISTAN•  Riwat(before1mya)•  PabbiHills(before1mya)•  GEORGIA(before1mya)•  SPAIN(before1mya)•  INDONESIA(around1mya)•  CHINA(before1mya)

GesherBenotYa'aqov(790kya)•  Controlleduseoffire•  Specializedspaces:“Spa;alOrganiza;onofHomininAc;vi;esatGesherBenotYa’aqov,Israel,authoredbyNiraAlperson-Afiletal,inwhichtheyreflectupontheorganisa2onalabili2esofarchaichumansintheLowerPalaeolithicoftheMiddlePleistocene,whoatGBY,representtheoldestknownfisher-hunter-gathererssofardiscoveredinthearchaeologicalrecord.It’sfairtosaythispaperhasmadesomethingofanimpact,withthegeneralconsensusbeingthatarchaichumansofthiserawerecapableoforganisa2onalbehaviourssimilartothatofanatomicallymodernhumans…”

GBY•  Thespa2aldesigna2onofdiscreteareasfordifferentac2vi2esreflectsformalizedconceptualiza2onofalivingspace.Theresultsofspa2alanalysesofaMiddlePleistoceneAcheuleanarchaeologicalhorizon(about750,000yearsago)atGesherBenotYa’aqov,Israel,indicatethathomininsdifferen2atedtheirac2vi2es(stoneknapping,tooluse,floralandfaunalprocessingandconsump2on)acrossspace.Thesewereorganizedintwomainareas,includingmul2pleac2vi2esaroundahearth.Thediversityofhumanac2vi2esandthedis2nc2vepa=erningwithwhichtheyareorganizedimpliesadvancedorganiza2onalskillsoftheGesherBenotYa’aqovhominins.

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Flores:700kya Socotra:1.4mya

ErfoudManuportca.300kya

VenusofBerekhatRamca.250kya

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Symbolsemergefromcultures

•  Cultureisanabstractnetworkshapingandconnec;ngsocialroles,hierarchicallystructuredknowledgedomains,andrankedvalues.Cultureisdynamic,shi`ing,reinterpretedmomentbymoment.Cultureisonlyfoundinthebodies(thebrainispartofthebody)andbehaviorsofitsmembers.

Sound“symbolism”(Actuallysoundiconicity)

•  Swoosh,bam,whack–bordelinesymbols•  Cryingtoritualcrying(GregUrban)•  Mistakeniden22es-rootsvs.snakes•  Exclama2ons/interjec2ons

Typesofsymbols

•  Auditory•  Visual

Cultureemerging:Values

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Symbols HowMuchGrammarDoesitTaketoSailaBoat?(Gil2005)

“Thispaperarguesthattheamountofgrammarthatisneededinordertosupportthevastmajorityofbasicdailyhumanac;vi;esissubstan;allylessthanisgenerallysupposedtobethecase,andthatconsequently,muchoftheobservedcomplexityofcontemporaryhumangrammarhasnoobviousfunc;onrela;ngtothedevelopmentandmaintenanceofmodernhumanciviliza;on.”

GrammarandSailing(cont)

“Specifically,itisarguedthatthelevelofgramma;calcomplexitynecessaryformodernciviliza;onisnogreaterthanthatofIsola;ng-Monocategorial-Associa;onal,orIMALanguage,languagewiththefollowingthreeproper;es:(a)MorphologicallyIsola;ng—Noword-internalmorphologicalstructure;(b)Syntac;callyMonocategorial—Nodis;nctsyntac;ccategories;(c)Seman;callyAssocia;onal—nodis;nctconstruc;on-specificrulesofseman;cinterpreta;on,composi;onalseman;csrelyingexclusivelyontheAssocia;onOperator(Gil2005).”

DUALITYOFPATTERNING•  Ver2cal/ Horizontal/

•  Paradigma2c Syntagma2c•  Symbolslot1 Symbolslot2 Symbolslot3•  Symbolfiller1(John) John saw Mary•  Symbolfiller2(Mary)•  Symbolfiller3(saw)

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Syllablesanddualityofpa=erning

•  Sonority,margins,nuclei

•  Bad,strong,opavs.paovs.pwa

•  Eachsoundbecomesasymbolifrearrangedwithothersounds

Slot:Filler

•  WhatdidJohngivetoMaryinthelibrary?•  LM:Q-wordMoodmarker-auxiliary,etc.

Holophras2cu=erancesfirst

•  shamalamadingdong

SHAMAlamaDINGdong

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Breakitdown

•  Gestures•  Syllables•  Intona2onEachwillhighlightapor2onoftheu=erance

Por2onswillorenoverlap

Thenaturalnessofhierarchy

•  Chunkingformemoryandprocessing(e.g.“Magicnumber7+/-2”(GeorgeMiller)

•  Syllables,phrases,morphemes,words

ChunkingineachhierarchySlightbiasforoverlappingchunking

ArchitectureofComplexityHerbertSimon1962

“Thus,thecentralthemethatrunsthroughmyremarksisthatcomplexityfrequentlytakestheformofhierarchy,andthathierarchicsystemshavesomecommonproper;esthatareindependentoftheirspecificcontent.Hierarchy,Ishallargue,isoneofthecentralstructuralschemesthatthearchitectofcomplexityuses.“

Simon(con2nued)

“Byahierarchicsystem,orhierarchy,Imeanasystemthatiscomposedofinterrelatedsub-systems,eachofthelaBerbeing,inturn,hier-archicinstructureun;lwereachsomelowestlevelofelementarysubsystem.“

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Trialityofpa=erning

•  •  Yesterday,whatdidJOHNgivetoMaryinthe

•  library?

PhonologicalHierarchy

•  Phonemes•  Syllables•  Phonologicalwords•  Phonologicalphrases•  Phonologicalparagraphs•  Phonologicaltexts•  Conversa2onalfeatures

Gramma2calHierarchy

•  Morpheme•  Word•  Phrase•  Sentence•  Paragraph•  Discourse•  Conversa2on

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Recursion:informa2onorganizerbeyondhierarchy

Languageslackingrecursion:PirahãandRiau.Jackendoff,Ray,andEvaWi=enberg2012.EvenSimplerSyntax:h=ps://depts.washington.edu/lingconf/abstracts/JackendoffandWi=enberg.pdf.

Futrell,et.al.onPiraha:h=p://journals.plos.org/plosone/ar2cle?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0145289

Disadvantagesoferectus:speech

•  Erectusspeechmoregarbled,makingithardertohearthedifferencesbetweenwords.Theexistenceofambiguity,homonyms,confusion,andtheimportanceofcontextcon;nuesinmodernspeech.Erectuslackedamodernhyoidbone.Airsacsareinferred.

•  Theerectushyoidbonehasprofoundimplica2onsfortheevolu2onofspeechandlanguage.

•  Erectusfaceswereprognathous.•  Posi2onoftongue…

• 

Disadvantagesoferectus2:Laryngealandemo2onalcontrol

•  TheFoxP2genehasevolvedsinceerectus.Itgivesusgreaterspeechcontrol.Withitsmoreprimi2veFOXP2gene,erectuswouldhavehadlesslaryngealandlessemo2onalcontrolintheirspeech.FOXP2alsoelongatesourneuronsandmakescogni2onfasterandmoreeffec2ve.Withoutthiserectuswouldcertainlyhavebeen"duller"thanus.Butthisweknew.

•  ThisFOXP2differencecouldalsohaveresultedinalackofparallelprocessingoflanguagebyerectus,anotherreasontheywouldhavethoughtmoreslowly.FOXP2inmodernhumansincreaseslengthandsyntap2cplas2cityofthebasalganglia,aidingmotoringlearningandperformanceofcomplextasks.

Disadvantagesoferectus3:Cogni2veplas2city?

•  Wearealsonotsureiferectushaveasmuchcogni2veplas2cityaswedo.Itdoesseemthaterectuswasadull,non-inven2vecreaturecomparedtous.Thatdoesn'tmeanthatitwasalanguage-lesscreature.Couldhavebeenapoli2cian.

•  Theearlytoolsoferectusweremoresimilarinsomerespectstothetoolsofotherprimates.Earlytoolsarehomogeneousandnon-com.Erectuslackedcomplextools(bowsandarrowsorspear-throwers).Perhaps.

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Erectustoolsvs.language

•  CurrentdayAmazonians–whattheywouldleavebehindisnotagreatsourceofinforma2onastowhattheyhad.

•  Becareful,therefore,aboutinferencesfromsilence.

Whattookthemsolong?•  AcheuliantoolsàClactonian/Mousteriantools(800,000-1,000,000years)

•  ErectusàNeandertalsàSapiens(eachassociatedwithdifferentlevelsoftoolcomplexity,apparently)

•  Imita2onvs.Innova2on–Waserectusconserva2veaswellasdull,orjustdull?

But!SAILING

TheSemio2cProgression

1 1

2

3

FIGURE TWO The Semiotic Progression

Index || Non-intentional, non-arbitrary linkage between form and meaning

Icon || Intentional, non-arbitrary linkage between form and meaning

Symbol

Sign || Intentional, arbitary linkage between form and meaning

Referent

Duality of patterning gestures || Form analysis and synthesis

Compositionality

Linearity: G

gestures

Modern Language is reached at G

Hierarchy: G

Recursion: G

Gestures,intona2on,slot:filler

Allpresentatthebeginning.Nonetakesprecedence.Equiprimordial(DavidMcNeill)

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G1–G3Languages

G1:ErectusG2:StandardAverageEuropean(Karlsson);Pirahã;Riau.G3–Someelicitedexamples;fewerspontaneousexamples,inselectlanguages.

Summary

•  1millionyearsago-G1Language•  Separatebands–dialects,cultures•  Toolsasculturalproductsaresymbols•  Statussymbolsandsailing•  Spacespecializa2oninerectusse=lements