In recent posts, we’ve explored the implications of cross-species sexual attraction, and the perception of language as a measure of distinction between Homo sapiens and the rest of the animal kingdom. The question of what separates our species from other animals, and whether language is indeed a mark of distinction, continues to fascinate, intrigue and trouble today, [...]
Posts Tagged ‘language’
Monkeys Attracted to Humans, but do they Kiss and Tell?
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged language, missing link, monkeys, sexual attraction on July 15, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
Rubicon crossed?
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged Animal, Apes, Darwin, Friedrich Max Müller. human, language on July 8, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
A long-standing debate concerns whether humans are specialized for speech perception ; in the the second half of the nineteenth century, two of the primary figures in this debate were Charles Darwin and Friedrich Max Müller. A distinguished scholar and one of the leading figures of Victorian cultural life, Müller stated that language was a “Rubicon” [...]
It’s all in the language !
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged analogies, Darwin, evolution, language on January 13, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
How can an English bishop and a French évêque help Darwin explain his theories about species and natural selection? In the middle of the nineteenth century, linguists were concerned with establishing genetic relationships between the English language and cognates (words that have a common etymological origin) in various other Indo-European languages. Hensleigh Wedgwood , Emma [...]
