The Conceptual Copy Theory for the Origin of Language

Abstract

The CC-Theory is, if correct, an attractive theory: Almost all of (3b) is explained from a very small evolutionary change. The character of the evolutionary change is biologically and evolutionary plausible. Also Chomsky needs a second evolutionary event to account for externalization. The CC-Theory makes a specific proposal for this, with a far wider scope than just externalization. GM is evolutionary young, but since it is modeled after C-I, which is evolutionary much older, GM gets a rich evolutionary history 'for free'. It provides a basis and a rationale for substantive universals involving formal grammatical categories. It offers possibilities to merge insights from Cognitive Grammar ([Langacker 1999]) with grammar frameworks that assume autonomy of syntax. It is falsifiable since it describes the components involved in language in the human mind/brain. Our direct ancestor can be approximated by investigating contemporary primates. Evidence can be obtained from linguistics, cognitive science, psycholinguistics, biology/ neurophysiology /neuro-imaging of the human brain itself and as compared to animal brains, etc. etc. If it can be established for a significant set of grammatical categories, it might lead to new opportunities for investigating the C-I component via the G-M component.However, research on it is not easy: (a) It attempts to explain properties of GM (of which we think we know something) on the basis of properties of C-I (of which we know that we know hardly anything). (b) What we know of C-I often comes through language (so there is a danger of circularity here). (c) It is essential to obtain evidence on C-I that is independent of language i. by showing that it plays a role in nonlinguistic beings such as primates or other animals, or ii. in prelinguistic beings such as very young children, or iii. at the very least that there is evidence for a conceptual category independent of the correlating grammatical category (e.g in a language that does not distinguish the relevant grammatical category).