Evolutionary Psychology and the Development of Language

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In this paper I discuss some of the claims made in the last decade concerning the origins of language. The paper focuses on five major works as representing a fair sample of opinion on the topic, but also makes reference to a number of other notable works that addressed the topic. The decade was notable for the view expressed in scientific circles that it would be the era of the mind. The optimistic might have foreseen a series of breakthroughs in identifying the neural counterparts of our sensory, motor and mental performances. With respect to language origins at least, it might be so far concluded that the question is unsolvable, given that it is not just a neurological issue, but involves fundamental philosophical, sociological, psychological, archeological and of course linguistic questions. Taken together, these concerns have been broadly called evolutionary psychology.