Co-evolution of internalization and externalization in the emergence of the human lexicon
A perspective from generative grammar and cognitive linguistics
There has been a long-standing controversy in the context of language evolution on whether the original function of human
language was internal thought or external communication. However, given the fact that language clearly serves both functions,
internalization and externalization must have been co-evolutionarily acted in the emergence of human language. This article proposes a
theoretical hypothesis about this co-evolutionary relationship of internalization and externalization, which especially explains the
emergence of the human lexicon. To discuss the evolution of language from a comprehensive perspective, this article proposes a promising
model that integrates two approaches with different standpoints: generative grammar and cognitive linguistics. This paper also examines the
definition and nature of the lexicon and lexical items based on this integrated model. The hypothesis presented here demonstrates that the
co-evolutionary work of internalization and externalization has been involved in two processes in the development of the lexicon: the
establishment of syntactic objects (lexical items) and the improvement of creativity responsible for the expansion of lexicon size. The main
conclusion is that these processes have formed a positive feedback loop and provided our lexicon with complex and unique properties.
Article outline
-
1.Introduction
- 2.Approach
- 2.1Generative grammar
- 2.2Cognitive linguistics
- 2.3The integration of generative grammar and cognitive linguistics
- 3.Lexical items and concepts
- 3.1What is lexicon?
- 3.2The remaining problems
- 3.3The peculiarity of human concepts: Concrete and abstract concepts
- 4.Co-evolution of internalization and externalization in the lexicon
- 4.1The first step
- 4.2The second step
- 4.3The loop of internalization and externalization
- 5.Concluding remarks
- Conflict of interest
- Acknowledgements
- Notes
-
References
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Cited by (1)
Cited by one other publication
Fujita, Haruka & Koji Fujita
2022.
Human language evolution: a view from theoretical linguistics on how syntax and the lexicon first came into being.
Primates 63:5
► pp. 403 ff.
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