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Evolutionary Syntax (Oxford Studies in the Evolution of Language) by Progovac, Ljiljana is a nonfiction available to read on EtoBox.
What is Evolutionary Syntax (Oxford Studies in the Evolution of Language) about?
## Abstract This book makes a case for a gradualist, adaptationist (Darwinian) approach to the evolution of syntax/grammar, subject to natural selection. It provides a specific framework for studying the evolution of syntax, with postulates that are at the right level of granularity to allow a synergy among the fields of evolutionary biology, theoretical syntax, typology, neuroscience, and genetics. This book pursues an internal reconstruction of the stages of grammar based on the syntactic theory associated with Chomskyan Minimalism, to arrive at very specific, testable hypotheses, which are corroborated by an abundance of theoretically analyzed ‘living fossils’ for each postulated stage, drawn from a variety of languages. What also distinguishes this approach is that it shows how these fossil structures do not just coexist side-by-side with more modern structures, but that they are in fact literally built into the very foundation of more complex structures, leading to quirks and complexities that best befit a gradualist evolutionary scenario. Importantly, the postulated stages clearly reveal the selection pressures that would have driven the progression through stages. By reconst
Who reads Evolutionary Syntax (Oxford Studies in the Evolution of Language)?
It is typically read by self-directed learners exploring a subject in depth.
Common subject areas: history, science, philosophy, social sciences.
- Author
- Progovac, Ljiljana
- Publisher
- Oxford University PressOxford
- Published
- 2015
- Language
- EN
- ISBN
- 9780198736547
- Category
- nonfiction
- Subjects
- History, Language Learning, Literary Fiction