생물언어학적 관점에서 인간언어의 진화

Abstract

This paper is to investigate the evolution of human language from the biolinguistic perspectives. Biolinguistics examines the language faculty regarded as the internalized biological result of distinctive evolution within human brains. Accordingly, the study of evolution of human language deals with questions of design, development and evolution of language in the Minimalist Program. Language faculty in the narrow sense is an optimal solution to the minimal design specifications of the interfacing systems in the Strong Minimalist Thesis. Hence, the recursive, unbounded application of Merge is the most fundamental computational operation of the language faculty. The externalization is regarded as an ancillary process relating to two systems: conceptual-intentional system and sensorimotor system. To conclude, the study of language is concerned with the Nature, human language, and the language faculty results from an interaction of three factors: genetic factors, experience, and general principles in biolinguistics. Therefore, the origin and evolution of Merge remains at the center of the evolution of human language.