Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://hdl.handle.net/1893/22194
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Title: The pivotal role of metaphor in the evolution of human language
Author(s): Smith, Andrew D M
Höfler, Stefan
Contact Email: andrew.smith@stir.ac.uk
Editor(s): Díaz-Vera, JE
Citation: Smith ADM & Höfler S (2015) The pivotal role of metaphor in the evolution of human language. In: Díaz-Vera J (ed.) Metaphor and Metonymy Across Time and Cultures: perspectives on the sociohistorical linguistics of figurative language. Cognitive Linguitics Research, 52. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, pp. 123-140. http://www.degruyter.com/view/product/211440
Keywords: evolutionary linguistics
cognitive linguistics
metaphor
ostensive-inferential communication
evolution of symbolism
evolution of grammar
Issue Date: 2015
Date Deposited: 2-Sep-2015
Series/Report no.: Cognitive Linguitics Research, 52
Abstract: There is broad agreement among evolutionary linguists that the emergence of human language, as opposed to other primate communication systems, is characterised by two key phenomena: the use of symbols, and the use of grammatical structure (Tomasello 2003). In this paper, we show that these two defining aspects of language actually emerge from the same set of underlying cognitive mechanisms within the context of ostensive-inferential communication. We take an avowedly cognitive approach to the role of metaphor in language change, setting out how general capacities such as the recognition of common ground, the inference of meaning from context, and the memorisation of language usage, can together lead to the conventionalisation of metaphors, and thence to systematic changes in language structure, including the development of grammatical linguistic units from formerly meaningful elements through grammaticalisation (Hoefler and Smith 2009). We show that the relevant cognitive competences are general-purpose mechanisms which are crucially not specific to language; they also underpin non-linguistic communication, where the same processes lead to the emergence of apparently arbitrary symbols.
Rights: This item has been embargoed for a period. During the embargo please use the Request a Copy feature at the foot of the Repository record to request a copy directly from the author. You can only request a copy if you wish to use this work for your own research or private study. The publisher has granted permission for use of this work in this Repository. Published in JE Diaz-Vera (ed.) Metaphor and Metonymy across Time and Cultures: Perspectives on the Sociohistorical Linguistics of Figurative Language by De Gruyter Mouton:
URL: http://www.degruyter.com/view/product/211440

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