Biolinguistics

Biolinguistics is the study of the biology and evolution of language. Coined in 1974 by Massimo Piattelli-Palmarini, it is a highly interdisciplinary field, including linguists, biologists, neuroscientists, psychologists, mathematicians, and others. By shifting the focus of investigation in linguistics to a comprehensive scheme that embraces natural sciences, it seeks to yield a framework by which we can understand the fundamentals of the faculty of language.Biolinguistics, also called the biolinguistic enterprise or biolinguistic approach, is believed to have its origins in the work of Noam Chomsky and Eric Lenneberg, among a few others, beginning in the 1950s, as a reaction to the behaviorist paradigm that at the time dominated psychology and linguistics. These works were regarded as pioneers in the shaping of biolinguistic thought, in what was in effect the beginning of a change in paradigm in the study of language. Biolinguistics is the study of the biology and evolution of language. Coined in 1974 by Massimo Piattelli-Palmarini, it is a highly interdisciplinary field, including linguists, biologists, neuroscientists, psychologists, mathematicians, and others. By shifting the focus of investigation in linguistics to a comprehensive scheme that embraces natural sciences, it seeks to yield a framework by which we can understand the fundamentals of the faculty of language.Biolinguistics, also called the biolinguistic enterprise or biolinguistic approach, is believed to have its origins in the work of Noam Chomsky and Eric Lenneberg, among a few others, beginning in the 1950s, as a reaction to the behaviorist paradigm that at the time dominated psychology and linguistics. These works were regarded as pioneers in the shaping of biolinguistic thought, in what was in effect the beginning of a change in paradigm in the study of language. Darwinism inspired many researchers to study the evolution of language mainly by means of biology. Dating all the way back to 1821, German linguist August Scheilurer was the representative pioneer of biolinguistics, discussing the evolution of language based on Darwin’s theory of evolution. As linguistics was believed to be a form of historical science, speculations of the origin of language was not permitted. As a result, hardly any prominent linguist wrote about the origin of language apart from Hugo Schuchardt. From 1950 to 1997, there were barely any bibliography entries written, with only three monograms and one academic paper. The term “biolinguistics” was coined in 1974. The first Biolinguistic conference was organized by Piattelli-Palmarini, bringing together evolutionary biologists, neuroscientists, linguists, and others interested in the development of language in the individual, its origins, and evolution. In 1997, the 40th anniversary of transformational-generative grammar was held, at which Jenkins wrote an article called “Biolinguistics: structure development and evolution of language”. Along with Uriagereka’s introductory text written in 1998, their work renewed interest in biolinguistics, catalysing many linguists to look into biolinguistics with their colleagues in adjacent scientific disciplines. Both Jenkins and Uriagereka stressed the importance of addressing the emergence of the language faculty in humans. At around the same time, geneticists discovered a link between the language deficit manifest by the KE family members and the gene FOXP2. Although FOXP2 is not the gene responsible for language, this discovery brought many linguists and scientists together to interpret this data, renewing the interest of biolinguistics. Though many linguists have differing opinions when it comes to the history of biolinguistics. Chomsky believes that the history of biolinguistics was simply the history of transformational grammar. While Di Sciullo claims that the interdisciplinary research of biology and linguistics in the 1950s-1960s led to the rise of biolinguistics. Jenkins believes that biolinguistics was the outcome of transformational grammarians studying human linguistic and biological mechanism. On the other hand, linguist Martin Nowak and Charles Yang argues that biolinguistics originated in the 1970s and that it is not synonymous with transformational grammar, but rather a new branch of the linguistics-biology research paradigm initiated by transformational grammar. Darwinism is a theory of biological evolution developed by Charles Darwin, stating that all species of organisms arise and develop through the natural selection of small, inherited variations that increase the individual's ability to compete, survive, and reproduce. The theory has since then been adopted and applied by many researchers and scholars into various fields of research.In his book Descent of Man, Darwin described how language might have evolved through natural and sexual selection, comparing birds learning to sing to infants babbling. Darwin’s theory regarding the origin of language attempts to answer two important questions: Darwinism addressed the arguments of other researchers and scholars such as Max Müller by arguing that language use, while requiring a certain mental capacity, would also stimulate brain development, enabling long trains of thought and strengthening reasoning power. Darwin drew an extended analogy between the evolution of languages and species, noting in each domain the presence of rudiments, of crossing and blending, and of variation, and remarking on how each developed gradually through a process of struggle .