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[aubrey at pigeonpostbox.co.uk]

Speaking as one who believes in Darwinism, and (more or less) in the 
restrictive Hauser, Chomsky, Fitch hypothesis, and thus not in 
Uriagareka's exaptation, it seems to me that indeed language improvises 
with cannibalised parts, association, projection, range, etc,, but 
roughly once in every million years the evolutionary Marketing 
Department comes up with a new idea. This gives us the eight or so 
language universals, structure dependency, endo-centricity, binding 
principles, etc., since the point of human divergence. The interesting 
questions, it seems to me, are: in what order of things did the canny 
marketing prevail over the crude cannibalism? And: Why?

Aubrey Nunes
PhD, FRSA, MRCSLT
Director Pigeon Post Box, Ltd.,
52, Bonham Road,
London SW2 5HG
0207 652 1347