Linguistics Seminar - A critical look at the place of gesture in language origins theories

Speaker: Professor Adam Kendon, Deafness Cognition and Language (DCAL) Research Centre, UCL

The idea that it was by gesture that humans first were able to communicate in a symbolic way, and so able to develop language, first put forward in the late seventeenth century, has continued to have importance in language origins discussions today. An evaluation of the main lines of evidence adduced as support for this “gesture first” hypothesis shows that, while these do not make for a compelling case, they make it clear that gesture is integral to language and that any evolutionary theory of language must account for this. Some ideas about how this might be done are discussed.

Time: Wednesday 8th June 2016, 4pm

Venue: Chandler House, Room G15