Birdsong, speech, and language : exploring the evolution of mind and brain / / edited by Johan J. Bolhuis and Martin Everaert ; foreword by Robert C. Berwick and Noam Chomsky

• Record Nr.: UNINA9910828274603321
• Pubbl/distr/stampa: Cambridge, Mass, : MIT Press, 2013; ©2013
• ISBN: 1-299-44329-X; 0-262-31382-0
• Descrizione fisica: 1 online resource (557 p.)
• Altri autori (Persone): BolhuisJohan J; EveraertMartin
• Disciplina: 401/.93
• Soggetti: Language acquisition; Birds - Vocalization; Birdsongs; Speech acts (Linguistics); Human evolution; Cognitive neuroscience; Neurolinguistics
• Lingua di pubblicazione: Inglese
• Formato: Materiale a stampa
• Livello bibliografico: Monografia
• Note generali: Description based upon print version of record.
• Nota di bibliografia: Includes bibliographical references and index.
• Nota di contenuto: Contents; Foreword: A Bird's-Eye View of Human Language and Evolution; Preface; I Introduction; 1 The Design Principles of Natural Language; 2 Evolution, Memory, and the Nature of Syntactic Representation; 3 Convergence and Deep Homology in the Evolution of Spoken Language; 4 Evolution of Brain Pathways for Vocal Learning in Birds and Humans; II Acquisition of Birdsong and Speech; 5 Behavioral Similarities between Birdsong and Spoken Language; 6 Parametric Variation: Language and Birdsong; 7 Vocal Culture in Songbirds: An Experimental Approach to Cultural Evolution; 8 Acquisition of Linguistic Categories: Cross-Domain ConvergencesIII Phonology and Syntax; 9 Structure in Human Phonology and in Birdsong: A Phonologist's Perspective; 10 Recursivity of Language: What ; Can Birds Tell Us about It?; 11 Finite-State Song Syntax in Bengalese Finches: Sensorimotor Evidence, Developmental Processes, and Formal Procedures for Syntax Extraction; 12 Analyzing the Structure of Bird Vocalizations and Language: Finding Common Ground; 13 Phonological Awareness in Grey Parrots: Creation of New Labels from Existing Vocalizations; IV Neurobiology of Song and Speech; 14 The Neural Basis of Links and Dissociations between Speech Perception and Production15 Neural Mechanisms of Auditory Learning and Memory in Songbirds and Mammals; 16 Age Effects in Language Acquisition and Attrition; 17 A "Birdsong Perspective" on Human Speech Production; 18 Neural Mechanisms Underlying the Generation of Birdsong: A Modular Sequential Behavior; 19 Auditory-Vocal Mirror Neurons for Learned Vocal Communication; 20 Peripheral Mechanisms of Vocalization in Birds: A Comparison with Human Speech; V Genes, Song, Speech, and Language; 21 Building Bridges between Genes, Brains, and Language22 A Bird's-Eye View of FoxP2; 23 Genetic Basis of Language: Insights from Developmental Dyslexia; VI Evolution of Song, Speech, and Language; 24 Musical Protolanguage: Darwin's Theory of Language Evolution Revisited; 25 Birdsong as a Model for Studying Factors and Mechanisms Affecting Signal Evolution; 26 Evolution of Vocal Communication: An Avian Model; List of Contributors; Index
• Sommario/riassunto: Scholars have long been captivated by the parallels between birdsong and human speech and language. In this book, leading scholars draw on the latest research to explore what birdsong can tell us about the biology of human speech and language and the consequences for evolutionary biology. They examine the cognitive and neural similarities between birdsong learning and speech and language acquisition, considering vocal imitation, auditory learning, an early vocalization phase ("babbling"), the structural properties of birdsong and human language, and the striking similarities between the neural organization of learning and vocal production in birdsong and human speech. After outlining the basic issues involved in the study of both language and evolution, the contributors compare birdsong and language in terms of acquisition, recursion, and core structural properties, and then examine the neurobiology of song and speech, genomic factors, and the emergence and evolution of language.