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The brain plus the cultural transmission mechanism determine the nature of language

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 October 2008

Kenny Smith ,
Simon Kirby  and
Andrew D. M. Smith
Kenny Smith
Affiliation:
Cognition and Communication Research Centre, Division of Psychology, Northumbria University, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, NE1 8ST, United Kingdomkenny.smith@northumbria.ac.ukhttp://drkennysmith.googlepages.com/
Simon Kirby
Affiliation:
Language Evolution and Computation Research Unit, School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, EH8 9LL, United Kingdom. simon@ling.ed.ac.ukhttp://www.lel.ed.ac.uk/~simon/andrew@ling.ed.ac.ukhttp://www.lel.ed.ac.uk/~andrew/
Andrew D. M. Smith
Affiliation:
Language Evolution and Computation Research Unit, School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, EH8 9LL, United Kingdom. simon@ling.ed.ac.ukhttp://www.lel.ed.ac.uk/~simon/andrew@ling.ed.ac.ukhttp://www.lel.ed.ac.uk/~andrew/
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Abstract

We agree that language adapts to the brain, but we note that language also has to adapt to brain-external constraints, such as those arising from properties of the cultural transmission medium. The hypothesis that Christiansen & Chater (C&C) raise in the target article not only has profound consequences for our understanding of language, but also for our understanding of the biological evolution of the language faculty.

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 31 , Issue 5 , October 2008 , pp. 533 - 534
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2008

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