Eve Spoke - Paperback

by Philip Lieberman (Author), Herbert Ed Lieberman (Author)

Today, scientists cite language as the distinctively human feature. But what is language--a sign, a grunt? A sound with collective symbolic meaning? This remarkable book seeks to set the record straight with a critical refinement of the language theory, providing readers for the first time with a scientific explanation of how Eve came to speak at all. Illustrations.

Back Jacket

Eve Spoke presents a compelling case for the pivotal role that speech has played in human language and human evolution. Wrestling with the age-old question of why such a large gulf exists between humans and other animals, Philip Lieberman mines both the fossil record and modern neuro-scientific techniques to chart the development of the anatomy and brain mechanisms necessary for human language as we know it. Eschewing any notion of a language gene or instinct, he pursues instead an evolutionary path in which environment acts on a biological capacity to reveal the interconnectedness of systems that make us most human: precise motor skills, speech, language, and complex thought. Lieberman interweaves decades of research in anthropology, neuroscience, psychology and linguistics into his exposition on the evolution of human speech.