Table of Contents

Preface; 1. The universe of gesture; 2. The nature of gesture; 3. Are signed and spoken languages differently organized?; 4. Is language modular?; 5. Do we have a genetically programmed drive to acquire language?; 6. Language from the body politic; 7. The origin of syntax: gesture as name and relation; 8. Language from the body: an evolutionary perspective; References; Index.

Promotional Information

This book proposes a radical alternative to dominant views of the evolution of language, and in particular the origins of syntax.

Reviews

'The authors display a broad and deep scholarship, often provocative and stimulating, but never tendentious, and happily free of the polemic tone that mars much linguistic argument.' Michael Studdert-Kennedy 'This book links studies of sign language and gesture with recent ideas about human evolution in a highly interesting way. It presents the important idea of 'semantic phonology' and suggests how syntax may have arisen from the inherent structure of practical actions.' Adam Kendon