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Computer Simulation: A New Scientific Approach to the Study of Language Evolution

  • Chapter
Simulating the Evolution of Language

Abstract

Language is such an important human characteristics that we would like to know how it first came into existence and how it managed to reach its present form. If we could go back in time for a sufficient number of generations we would encounter human ancestors that did not have language. In a succession of generations the descendants of those non-linguistic ancestors came to possess the ability to speak and to understand the speech of others. What made the transition possible? How did the transition occur? Were there intermediate forms of language in the sense of communication systems different from known animal communication systems but also different from language as we know it and as is spoken today by all humans?

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Authors
  1. Angelo Cangelosi
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  2. Domenico Parisi
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Neural and Adaptive Systems, School of Computing, University of Plymouth, 7 Kirkby Place, Plymouth, PL4 8AA, UK

    Angelo Cangelosi Laurea, PhD

  2. Institute of Psychology, National Research Council, Viale Marx 15, 00137, Rome, Italy

    Domenico Parisi Laurea, MA

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© 2002 Springer-Verlag London Limited

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Cangelosi, A., Parisi, D. (2002). Computer Simulation: A New Scientific Approach to the Study of Language Evolution. In: Cangelosi, A., Parisi, D. (eds) Simulating the Evolution of Language. Springer, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4471-0663-0_1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4471-0663-0_1

  • Publisher Name: Springer, London

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-85233-428-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4471-0663-0

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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