Chapter 7
The SOV mystery and language evolution
Article outline
- 7.1Introduction
- 7.2The neo-recapitulationist perspective
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7.3The SOV mystery
- 7.4Extrapolation #1: Canine communication
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7.4.1Here and now, you and I, this and that visible
- 7.4.2Socio-cultural context: The Society of Intimates
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7.4.3Information
- 7.4.4A note on primate communication
- 7.5Extrapolation #2: Early child language
- 7.5.1Communicative mode
- 7.5.2Socio-cultural context
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7.6Pre-grammatical pidgin as an evolutionary stage
- 7.7The evolution of grammar: A hypothesis
- 7.7.1Ground-zero: Shift of the communicative context
- 7.7.2Changes in the communication system
- 7.7.2.1Noun coding: From deixis to well-coded nouns
- 7.7.2.2Verb coding: From one-word to two-word clauses
- 7.7.2.3From mono-propositional to multi-propositional discourse
- 7.7.2.4Grammaticalization as an evolutionary process
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7.7.2.5The drift away from SOV
- 7.8Discussion
- 7.8.1Vestigial relicts of early communicative modes
- 7.8.2Recapitulation and developmental trends
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Notes
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Abbreviation of grammatical terms