Historical evolution of culture, mind, and language. Considerations basing on Everett´s study upon the Pirahã

Abstract

The language of the Pirahãs, an indigenuous group living in the Amazonian rain forest, lacks recursion and embedding, plural and passive, and has some other traits that discriminate this kind of language from those nowadays usually spoken. Daniel Everett has described this language, and has tried to explain mind, language, and culture of the Pirahãs, by their cultural values and norms they allegedly appreciate. He assumes that they follow the immediate experience principle that hinders them to surpass hic and nunc experiences and to apply any kind of abstractions. Likewise, he explains the lack of number usage, categorical color terms, quantifiers, rich mythology and religion, and subjective dream understandings against the immediate experience principle and missing abstractions. This article here demonstrates that instead developmental psychology is needed for the explanation of the traits of language and mind mentioned. The preoperational stage of human development causes the mental characteristics mentioned. It also originates the structures of the Pirahã language. Accordingly, this language widely corresponds to language structures modern children run through during their preschool years before they learn the understanding and application of subordinate clauses, passive, and plural. Thus, Everett was right in seeing a common reason to the various characteristics of mind and language of the Pirahãs. However, not social values or the immediate experience principle is the common reason to the phenomena but certain psychological structures exactly describable by developmental psychology. Henceforth, this article strengthens tries to use developmental psychology in the study of the history of languages. It shows the superiority of the developmental approach in the study of language over Darwinian approaches present-day linguists usually follow when studying the history of language. It evidences that both Chomsky´s universal grammar theory and Darwinian approaches blockade the proper study of the history of language. The Pirahã language takes a certain place in the history of the human language, as the Pirahã mind does in the history of mind and culture. Therefore, developmental psychology has the tools available to illuminate the history of language, mind, and culture.