Consciousness and the Cultural Invention of Language

This book studies the origins of language. It presents language as the product of a unique non-linguistic cognitive feature (i.e. metacognition) that emerged late in human evolution. Within this framework, the author lays special emphasis on the tight links that exist between language and consciousness, with the conviction that the creation of language was ultimately made possible by the onset of a new type of awareness that enabled the invention of words. The volume studies the parallels between human cultural behaviour and human language, discusses the motivational underpinnings that favoured the emergence of language, and offers a possible evolutionary timeline for the advent of language. It also addresses the question of whether artificial intelligence will ever develop the kind of thinking and language observable in humans. A unique look into the beginnings of human language, this book will be indispensable for students and researchers of language and linguistics, language evolution, cultural studies, cognitive linguistics, psycholinguistics, and cognitive science.