Abstract
Two of the main theoretical approaches to the evolution of language are biolinguistics and usage-based approaches. Both are often conceptualized as belonging to seemingly irreconcilable “camps.” Biolinguistic approaches assume that the ability to acquire language is based on a language-specific genetic foundation. Usage-based approaches, on the other hand, stress the importance of domain-general cognitive capacities, social cognition, and interaction. However, there have been a number of recent developments in both paradigms which suggest that biolinguistic and usage-based approaches are actually moving closer together. For example, theoretical advancements such as evo-devo and complex adaptive system theory have gained traction in the language sciences, leading to changed conceptions of issues like the relative influence of “nature” and “nurture.” In this paper, we outline points of convergence between current minimalist biolinguistic and usage-based approaches regarding four contentious issues: (1) modularity and domain specificity; (2) innateness and development; (3) cultural and biological evolution; and (4) knowledge of language and its description. We show that across both paradigms, researchers have come to increasingly embrace more complex views of these issues. They also have come to appreciate the view that biological and cultural evolution are closely intertwined, which lead to an increased amount of common ground between minimalist biolinguistics and usage-based approaches.
Highlights
As Jackendoff (2010) famously stated, “[y]our theory of language evolution depends on your theory of language.” the converse is true: Looking at language “in the light of evolution” (Dobzhansky, 1973; Hurford, 2007, 2012) can inform theories of language
As we argue in this paper, by integrating perspectives and results from the cognitive and biological sciences such as evolutionary-developmental biology and complex adaptive systems, both fields are moving toward convergent conceptualizations on a number of key issues
There are many interesting parallels, especially between the complex adaptive system framework adopted in much research within usage-based and emergentist frameworks, on the one hand, and the evo-devo approach that has become influential in biolinguistics, especially in “biolinguistics 2.0”, on the other
Summary
As Jackendoff (2010) famously stated, “[y]our theory of language evolution depends on your theory of language.” the converse is true: Looking at language “in the light of evolution” (Dobzhansky, 1973; Hurford, 2007, 2012) can inform theories of language. The radically usage-based complex adaptive system view of language holds that language is not shaped by any domain-specific factors but rather by “[p] rocesses of human interaction along with domain-general cognitive processes” (see section “Cultural and Biological Evolution”).
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