This book summarizes the latest research on the origins of language,
with a focus on the process of evolution and differentiation of
language. It provides an update on the earlier successful book, "The
Origins of Language" edited by Nobuo Masataka and published in 2008,
with new content on emerging topics.
Drawing on the empirical evidence in each respective chapter, the editor
presents a coherent account of how language evolved, how music
differentiated from language, and how humans finally became
neurodivergent as a species.
Chapters on nonhuman primate communication reveal that the evolution of
language required the neural rewiring of circuits that controlled
vocalization. Language contributed not only to the differentiation of
our conceptual ability but also to the differentiation of psychic
functions of concepts, emotion, and behavior. It is noteworthy that a
rudimentary form of syntax (regularity of call sequences) has emerged in
nonhuman primates.
The following chapters explain how music differentiated from language,
whereas the pre-linguistic system, or the "prosodic protolanguage," in
nonhuman primates provided a precursor for both language and music.
Readers will gain a new understanding of music as a rudimentary form of
language that has been discarded in the course of evolution and its role
in restoring the primordial synthesis in the human psyche. The
discussion leads to an inspiring insight into autism and neurodiversity
in humans.
This thought-provoking and carefully presented book will appeal to a
wide range of readers in linguistics, psychology, phonology, biology,
anthropology and music.
