The Evolution of Sentential Structure

Humana Mente 7 (27) (2014)
  Copy   BIBTEX

Abstract

The aim of this article is to present an evolutionarily grounded explanation of why we speak in sentences. This question is seldomly addressed, neither in the Chomskian tradition nor in cognitive linguistics. I base my explanation on an analysis of different levels of communication. I identify four levels: praxis, instruction, coordination of common ground and coordination of meaning. The analysis will be focused on the evolutionary benefits of communicating about events as a way of coordinating actions. A cognitively grounded model of events will be outlined. My central thesis is that the communicative role of sentences is to express events.

Links

PhilArchive



    Upload a copy of this work     Papers currently archived: 90,616

External links

Setup an account with your affiliations in order to access resources via your University's proxy server

Through your library

Similar books and articles

Specified Meet Contraction.Sven Ove Hansson - 2008 - Erkenntnis 69 (1):31-54.
Synchronous Events in By-Sentences.David Pineda - 2003 - Theoria: Revista de Teoría, Historia y Fundamentos de la Ciencia 18 (3):351-357.
Adnominal conditionals.Peter Lasersohn - 1996 - In T. Galloway & J. Spence (eds.), Papers from Semantics and Linguistic Theory VI. CLC Publications.
The logical form of negative action sentences.Jonathan D. Payton - 2016 - Canadian Journal of Philosophy 46 (6):855-876.
Events, Phrases, and Questions.Robert Truswell - 2011 - Oxford University Press.

Analytics

Added to PP
2018-06-07

Downloads
5 (#1,344,576)

6 months
2 (#670,035)

Historical graph of downloads
How can I increase my downloads?

Author's Profile

Peter Gärdenfors
Lund University

References found in this work

Philosophical Investigations.Ludwig Wittgenstein - 1953 - New York, NY, USA: Wiley-Blackwell. Edited by G. E. M. Anscombe.
Intentionality: An Essay in the Philosophy of Mind.John R. Searle - 1983 - New York: Cambridge University Press.
Intentionality: An Essay in the Philosophy of Mind.John R. Searle - 1983 - New York: Oxford University Press.
Using Language.Herbert H. Clark - 1996 - Cambridge University Press.

View all 14 references / Add more references