Robert C. Berwick

The goal of this contribution to the Elements series is to closely examine Merge, its form, its function, and its central role in current linguistic theory. It explores what it does (and does not do), why it has the form it has, and its development over time. The basic idea behind Merge is quite simple. However, Merge interacts, in intricate ways, with other components including the language's interfaces, laws of nature, and certain language-specific conditions. Because of this, and because of its fundamental place in the human faculty of language, this Element's focus on Merge provides insights into the goals and development of generative grammar more generally, and its prospects for the future.

The goal of this contribution to the Elements series is to closely examine Merge, its form, its function, and its central role in current linguistic theory. It explores what it does (and does not do), why it has the form it has, and its development over time. The basic idea behind Merge is quite simple. However, Merge interacts, in intricate ways, with other components including the language's interfaces, laws of nature, and certain language-specific conditions. Because of this, and because of its fundamental place in the human faculty of language, this Element's focus on Merge provides insights into the goals and development of generative grammar more generally, and its prospects for the future.

Berwick and Chomsky draw on recent developments in linguistic theory to offer an evolutionary account of language and humans' remarkable, species-specific ability to acquire it." A loosely connected collection of four essays that will fascinate anyone interested in the extraordinary phenomenon of language."— New York Review of BooksWe are born crying, but those cries signal the first stirring of language. Within a year or so, infants master the sound system of their language; a few years after that, they are engaging in conversations. This remarkable, species-specific ability to acquire any human language—"the language faculty"—raises important biological questions about language, including how it has evolved. This book by two distinguished scholars—a computer scientist and a linguist—addresses the enduring question of the evolution of language. Robert Berwick and Noam Chomsky explain that until recently the evolutionary question could not be properly posed, because we did not have a clear idea of how to define "language" and therefore what it was that had evolved. But since the Minimalist Program, developed by Chomsky and others, we know the key ingredients of language and can put together an account of the evolution of human language and what distinguishes us from all other animals. Berwick and Chomsky discuss the biolinguistic perspective on language, which views language as a particular object of the biological world; the computational efficiency of language as a system of thought and understanding; the tension between Darwin's idea of gradual change and our contemporary understanding about evolutionary change and language; and evidence from nonhuman animals, in particular vocal learning in songbirds.

We are born crying. These tears are the first signs of language. At birth, children dominate the sound system of their language and soon they are already having conversations. This extraordinary human faculty raises important biological questions about language. In this book, two eminent scholars address in depth the fascinating question of the evolution of language. Nacemos llorando. Y esos lloros son los primeros indicios del lenguaje. Al a o de nacer, los ni os dominan el sistema de sonidos de su lengua; y, m s tarde, ya mantienen conversaciones. Esta extraordinaria facultad humana plantea importantes interrogantes biol gicos en torno al lenguaje. En este libro dos eminentes eruditos abordan en profundidad el fascinante interrogante de la evoluci n del lenguaje. Hasta hace poco no se pod a plantear adecuadamente el tema de la evoluci n, porque ni siquiera sab amos definir con propiedad el «lenguaje . Pero a partir del Programa Minimalista, desarrollado por Chomsky y otros, ahora conocemos los ingredientes clave del lenguaje humano y somos capaces de ofrecer una explicaci n de la evoluci n del lenguaje humano y de lo que nos distingue de los dem s animales. Berwick y Chomsky ahondan en la eficacia computacional del lenguaje en tanto que sistema de pensamiento y conocimiento; del conflicto entre la idea darwinista de cambio gradual y nuestro modo actual de ver el cambio evolutivo y el lenguaje; y de evidencias obtenidas en animales no humanos, especialmente en torno al aprendizaje de vocales en aves cantoras. El resultado es un hito en el abordaje bioling stico del lenguaje.