11.147, Calls: Lang Origin, Comp Ling/Integrating Information
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LINGUIST List: Vol-11-147. Mon Jan 24 2000. ISSN: 1068-4875.
Subject: 11.147, Calls: Lang Origin, Comp Ling/Integrating Information
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1)
Date: Sun, 23 Jan 2000 23:02:18 +0000 (GMT)
From: Stevan Harnad <harnad at coglit.ecs.soton.ac.uk>
Subject: Language Origin/Evolution: Commentators
2)
Date: Mon, 24 Jan 2000 13:55:17 +0100
From: root <root at Leibniz.lili.uni-bielefeld.de>
Subject: Comp Ling: Integrating Information from Different Channels
-------------------------------- Message 1 -------------------------------
Date: Sun, 23 Jan 2000 23:02:18 +0000 (GMT)
From: Stevan Harnad <harnad at coglit.ecs.soton.ac.uk>
Subject: Language Origin/Evolution: Commentators
Place/Catania: THE ROLE OF THE HAND IN THE EVOLUTION OF LANGUAGE
The target article whose abstract appears below has today appeared
in PSYCOLOQUY, a refereed online journal of Open Peer Commentary
sponsored by the American Psychological Association.
http://www.cogsci.soton.ac.uk/cgi/psyc/newpsy?11.007
ftp://ftp.princeton.edu/pub/harnad/Psycoloquy/2000.volume.11/
psyc.00.11.007.language-gesture.1.place
OPEN PEER COMMENTARY on this target article is now invited.
Qualified professional biobehavioural, neural or cognitive
scientists should consult PSYCOLOQUY's Websites or send email
(below) for Instructions if not familiar with format or acceptance
criteria for commentaries (all submissions are refereed).
To submit articles or to seek information:
EMAIL: psyc at pucc.princeton.edu
URLs: http://www.princeton.edu/~harnad/psyc.html
http://www.cogsci.soton.ac.uk/psyc
- ---------------------------------------------------------------------
psycoloquy.00.11.007.language-gesture.1.place Sun Jan 23 2000
ISSN 1055-0143 (59 paras, 58 refs, 1 figure, 1281 lines)
PSYCOLOQUY is sponsored by the American Psychological Association (APA)
Copyright 2000 Ullin T. Place
THE ROLE OF THE HAND IN THE EVOLUTION OF LANGUAGE
Target Article on Language Origins
Ullin T. Place
School of Philosophy
University of Leeds
School of Psychology
University of Wales,
Bangor, Wales
UK
Charles Catania
Department of Psychology
University of Maryland,
Baltimore County
1000 Hilltop Circle
Baltimore, Maryland 21250
USA
catania at umbc.edu
ABSTRACT: This target article has four sections. Section I sets
out four principles which should guide any attempt to reconstruct
the evolution of an existing biological characteristic. Section II
sets out thirteen principles specific to a reconstruction of the
evolution of language. Section III sets out eleven pieces of
evidence for the view that vocal language must have been preceded
by an earlier language of gesture. Based on those principles and
evidence, Section IV sets out seven proposed stages in the process
whereby language evolved: (1) the use of mimed movement to indicate
an action to be performed, (2) the development of referential
pointing which, when combined with mimed movement, leads to a
language of gesture, (3) the development of vocalisation, initially
as a way of imitating the calls of animals, (4) counting on the
fingers leading into (5) the development of symbolic as distinct
from iconic representation, (6) the introduction of the practice of
question and answer, and (7) the emergence of syntax as a way of
disambiguating utterances that can otherwise be disambiguated only
by gesture.
KEYWORDS: evolution, equivalence, gesture, homesigning, iconic,
language, miming, pointing, protolanguage, referring, sentence,
symbolic, syntax, vocalisation
EDITOR'S NOTE: Ullin T. Place died on January 2, 2000. His target
article had been reviewed for PSYCOLOQUY and was essentially
complete at the time of his death. Some minor editing has been done
by PSYCOLOQUY Associate Editor A. Charles Catania, mainly to bring
the manuscript into conformity with PSYCOLOQUY style. Catania will
consider replying to commentaries on this article, but also
welcomes the participation of others who may feel they are
familiar enough with Place's perspectives to do so.
Retrieve the full target article at:
http://www.cogsci.soton.ac.uk/cgi/psyc/newpsy?11.007
or
ftp://ftp.princeton.edu/pub/harnad/Psycoloquy/2000.volume.11/
psyc.00.11.007.language-gesture.1.place
-------------------------------- Message 2 -------------------------------
Date: Mon, 24 Jan 2000 13:55:17 +0100
From: root <root at Leibniz.lili.uni-bielefeld.de>
Subject: Comp Ling: Integrating Information from Different Channels
This is the Final Call for Papers for the
WORKSHOP
========
"Integrating Information from Different Channels
===============================================
in Multi-Media-Contexts"
=======================
to be held as part of ESSLLI 2000 at Birmingham (UK), August 6-18, 2000
URL: http://www.lili.uni-bielefeld.de/~wicic
- ---------------------------------------------------------------------
Description:
In everyday situations agents must combine information from different
sources: Reference and predication can be based both on gestural and
spoken information. Inferences demand extracting information from
diagrams and the text built around them. Focus of attention is often
indicated by visual, gestural or acoustic means.
The growing number of researchers interested in multimodal information
reflects its practical relevance, not least in the construction of
man-machine interfaces. In order to model complex multimodal
information, a notion of composite signal is called for in which
the different "threads of information" are integrated. Understanding
composite signals may be necessary for all fields of science dealing
with information, whether empirically or formally oriented. Research
in this area is bound up with logical, linguistic, computational and
philosophical problems like
- assessing the semantic contribution of information from
different sources,
- compositionality in the construction of information
- extending the notions of reference, truth and entailment in
order to capture the content of "mixed information states" and
- experimentally measuring the activity on different channels or
- investigating timing problems concerning "interleaving
threads" of information.
Despite their foundational flavour, emerging theories in this area
have applications in domains as diverse as discourse analysis
(monitoring and back-channelling behaviour), styles of reasoning,
robotics (reference resolution by pointing) and Virtual Reality
(integration of gesture and speech).
Consequently, the workshop is addressed to scholars from different
fields: We welcome experimental researchers investigating
e.g. gesture, eye movement or other means of focussing in relation to
speech. At the same time workshop contributions of linguists,
logicians or computer scientists are invited who work on the
description and the formal modelling of complex signals. Finally, work
concerning the simulation of production or understanding of complex
signals, Virtual Reality type, neural net like or other, is also
encouraged.
- ---------------------------------------------------------------------
For further and occassionally updated information, please visit
http://www.lili.uni-bielefeld.de/~wicic
Kenneth Holmqvist (LUCS), Hannes Rieser (SFB360) and
Peter Kuehnlein (SFB360)
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