Book review

Origins of Human Communication

Tomasello, Michael. 2008. Origins of Human Communication. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press

Reviewed by Christina Behme, Dalhousie University.

The evolution of human language has received a considerable amount of interest in recent years. This interest generated a wealth of book-length treatments dedicated either exclusively to language evolution (e.g., Dunbar 1997, Knight et al. 2000, Givon & Malle 2002, Christiansen & Kirby 2003, Wildgen 2004, Burling 2005, Tallerman 2005, Johannson 2005, Cangelosi 2006, Lyon et al. 2007) or providing detailed treatment of language evolution within a broader framework (e.g., Hauser 1996, Deacon 1997, Wray 2002, Jablonka & Lamb 2005). Why, then, would we need yet another volume on this subject? Origins of human communication justifies its existence in several ways. First, many of the other contributions are edited volumes bringing together the perspective of experts from many diverse areas on often fairly technical aspects of language evolution. By contrast this single author volume makes the subject accessible to a wide audience. Tomasello speaks to both: researchers in animal and human communication and interested lay-people with widely differing levels of background knowledge. The extensive reference section will provide valuable information for the expert. But it is entirely up to the individual reader how much of this literature s/he wants to consult because Tomasello integrates the results of many studies seamlessly in the text. Second, Tomasello is one of the few authors who tackle the task of providing a comprehensive story accounting for the many small steps that had to occur to move gradually from the communication skills of our prelinguistic ancestors to the complexity of modern day languages. Third, Tomasello rarely points to competing accounts. This allows him to remain focussed on providing a wealth of positive evidence supporting his account which makes it especially for the lay audience easy to follow his arguments. Careful summaries of main arguments and detailed conclusion sections provide additional assistance for the reader. Fourth, because it is clear what Tomasello's account is, it will be easy for those who may disagree to formulate counter arguments that aim at the target (and not at an army of straw-men). This in turn could either motivate adjustments to Tomasello's account or allow the critic to see why her view needs adjustment. Fifth, Origins of human communication is written in an entertaining and very accessible style and is simply a pleasure to read.

Tomasello begins by outlining what he considers to be the 'social-cognitive' and 'social-motivational' infrastructure (p. 2) that needs to be in place before language could arise in humans. For him "[h]uman communication is a fundamentally cooperative enterprise" (p. 6) that could not have arisen without the shared intentionality of cooperative creatures. Shared intentionality allows for the emergence of naturally intention directing gestures (pointing and pantomiming) which in turn allow for cultural learning and imitation and eventually the emergence of conventual communication systems (languages). Tomasello shows which of the crucial cognitive and motivational components are already present in non-human primates. He holds that at least great apes understand that others have goals and perceptions and that they can engage in some kind of practical reasoning that allows them to influence the behaviour of others to further their own ends. That is, they have individual intentionality, which is one essential component of language-readiness. Apes communicate with vocal displays and communicative gestures, which of these is a likely language pre-cursor? It turns out that primate vocal displays are (like those of other mammals) "mostly unlearned, genetically fixed, emotionally urgent, involuntary, inflexible responses to evolutionarily important events" (p. 54). On the other hand, great apes produce a variety of flexible, learned communicative gestures that can affect the attention of others. These gestures are used to direct the attention of the recipient with the intention that she do something for the gesturer. Thus, gestures could plausibly be seen as possible pre-cursors of human language. But there is one crucial element missing in all non-human primates. Primates do not cooperate and are not able to form shared intentions or to engage in recursive mindreading. For Tomasello this is the difference making difference: without the skills and motivations for shared intentionality language would not be possible. With them human communication got past the requesting stage of ape communication and included (initially purely gestural) acts of informing and of sharing of emotions and attitudes. As these acts became more complex the need for ever more complex signs arose and it was at this point that according to Tomasello the transition to vocal communication occurred. He provides a compelling story for the smooth transition to the grammatically complex modern languages from the modest beginning of pointing and gesturing. I do not want to reveal all the details here but suggest it will be worth anyone's while to read Origins of human communication to find out how the coevolution of cognitive skills and cultural products culminated "in skills of linguistic communication" (p. 354) that are unique in the animal kingdom.

Tomasello provides essentially a 'positive account' supporting his hypothesis, but he is not ignorant of competing views. Throughout the discussion he informs the reader of potential counter arguments (e.g., direct transition from vocal display to spoken language, presence of cooperation in non-human primates, coercion and deception as driving evolutionary forces), compares the merits of both accounts and provides reasons for why he believes his account is a better solution to the problem at hand. There is one notable exception to this pattern; the treatment of Chomsky's Universal Grammar arguments (pp. 311-13). While the outright rejection of this account will come as no surprise to anyone familiar with Tomasello's work, the uninitiated lay-reader may have some difficulties following the discussion which is peppered with technical jargon throughout. Even though I personally share Tomasello's opinion, I did not see a need for the inclusion of such a dismissive argument at this point. But, perhaps, it might be premature to hope for an entire book dealing with human language that does not mention Universal Grammar once and the 'aftertaste' of these few pages should not linger long. Overall, this volume will provide valuable information for anyone interested in language evolution and a challenge for proponents of competing accounts.

References

Burling, R. 2005. The Talking Ape. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Cangelosi, A., Smith, A., & K. Smith, K. Eds.. 2006. The Evolution of Language. Singapore: World Scientific.

Christiansen, M., & Kirby, S. Eds., 2003. Language Evolution. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Deacon, T. 1997. The Symbolic Species. New York: W.W. Norton & Company.

Dunbar, R. 1997. Grooming, Gossip, and the Evolution of Language. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Givon T. & Malle B. Eds. 2002. The evolution of language out of pre-language. Philadelphia: John Benjamins.

Hauser, M. 1996. The Evolution of Communication. Cambridge. MA: MIT Press.

Jablonka, E., & Lamb, M. 2005. Evolution in Four Dimensions. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

Johansson, S. 2005. Origins of Language, Constraints on Hypotheses. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.

Knight, C., Studdert-Kennedy, M., & Hurford, J. Eds. 2000. The evolutionary emergence of language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Lyon, C., Nehaniv, C., & Cangelosi, A., Eds.. 2007. Emergence of Communication and Language. Springer Verlag.

Tallerman, M. Ed. 2005 Language Origins: Perspectives on Evolution. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Wildgen, W. 2004. The Evolution of Human Language. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.

Wray, A. Ed., 2002. The Transition to Language. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

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