Sidnell-Enfield2014

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Sidnell-Enfield2014
BibType INCOLLECTION
Key Sidnell-Enfield2014
Author(s) Jack Sidnell, N. J. Enfield
Title The ontology of action, in interaction
Editor(s) N. J. Enfield, Paul Kockelman, Jack Sidnell
Tag(s) EMCA, Action, Linguistic Anthropology
Publisher Cambridge University Press
Year 2014
Language English
City Cambridge
Month
Journal
Volume
Number
Pages 423–446
URL Link
DOI 10.1017/CBO9781139342872.020
ISBN
Organization
Institution
School
Type
Edition
Series
Howpublished
Book title Cambridge Handbook of Linguistic Anthropology
Chapter

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Abstract

The subject of language evolution has experienced a boom in international conferences monographs, textbooks, and learned papers. This chapter covers two subjects that many would consider essentially unrelated: the evolution of the underlying biology that makes language possible on the one hand, and the processes underlying language change and diversification on the other. The chapter considers the range of new data that gives insights into the time course of the biological evolution of language capacities. It turns to cultural evolution and introduces the new methods that are revolutionizing this area. The chapter also considers the evidence for ongoing relations between biological and cultural evolution. Ongoing interactions between genes and spoken languages are less visible, but almost certainly in play. It has been shown that even slight biological or cognitive biases can become amplified through cultural transmission.

Notes