1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910963678903321

Autore

Hurford James R

Titolo

The origins of meaning / / James R. Hurford

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Oxford, : Oxford University Press, 2007

ISBN

0-19-160723-1

1-281-14907-1

9786611149079

0-19-152592-8

1-4356-0979-4

Edizione

[1st ed.]

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (404 p.)

Collana

Language in the light of evolution ; ; 1

Disciplina

401.43

Soggetti

Semantics - History

Communication

Evolution

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; Acknowledgements; Preface; PART I: MEANING BEFORE COMMUNICATION; 1. Let's Agree on Terms; 2. Animals Approach Human Cognition; 3. A New Kind of Memory Evolves; 4. Animals Form Proto-propositions; 5. Towards Human Semantics; PART II: COMMUNICATION: WHAT AND WHY?; 6. Communication by Dyadic Acts; 7. Going Triadic: Precursors of Reference; 8. Why Communicate? Squaring with Evolutionary Theory; 9. Cooperation, Fair Play, and Trust in Primates; 10. Epilogue and Prologue; Bibliography; Index; A; B; C; D; E; F; G; H; I; J; K; L; M; N; O; P; Q; R; S; T; U; V; W; Y; Z

Sommario/riassunto

In this, the first of two ground-breaking volumes on the nature of language in the light of the way it evolved, James Hurford looks at the origins of meaning and of its expression in language and reviews a mass of evidence to uncover the evolutionary path between the non-speaking minds of apes and our own speaking minds. This is a landmark contribution to the understanding of linguistic and thinking processes, and the fullest account yet published of the evolution of language and. communication. - ;In this, the first of two ground-breaking volumes on the nature of language in the light of the