Babel’s Dawn: Chomsky’s Theory of Language Origins
Babel’s Dawn: Chomsky’s Theory of Language Origins
The founder of modern linguistics, Noam Chomsky, was famous for decades for his dismissal of interest in the evolution of language. In recent years he has moderated his position and in a lecture recently made available on line (here, registration required) he outlines his scenario for how language evolved. It is about as different from the account being developed on this blog as a theory can be, making it of keen interest because it forces me to ask whether I have gone hopelessly astray and should change course quite sharply.