Speaker: Dr. Giulia Palazzolo, University of Warwick

Title: Toward a bounded hierarchy account of the evolution of human syntax

Abstract: Syntax is generally understood as the ability to combine linguistic units into larger sequences. This capacity is central to human language. The question of how syntax emerged in humans is still highly disputed in the field of language evolution. Is it an evolutionary novelty in the human lineage? Or did it evolve from capacities that are also present in extant nonhuman animals? In this paper, I critically examine two prominent frameworks that have been proposed for the study of the evolution of human syntax: what I call ‘compositional semantics’ (Townsend et al. 2018, Leroux et al. 2023) and ‘unbounded hierarchy’ (Berwick & Chomsky 2016, Bolhuis et al. 2018, Chomsky et al. 2023). I argue that both frameworks face challenges in explaining the evolution of human syntax. Building on this critique, I lay the groundwork for an alternative framework for the study of the evolution of human syntax. The framework that I propose traces the evolutionary origins of human syntax to simpler forms of bounded hierarchy that may be present in extant nonhuman animals.

Short Bio:

Giulia is a Research Fellow in the Philosophy Department at the University of Warwick, working in The Communicative Mind project (https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/philosophy/research/currentresearch/communicativemind/).

Her specialisations are in the Philosophy of science and Philosophy of mind.

Giulia's research foci include: animal minds/communication and language evolution. In particular, she is interested in the evolution of reference, accounts of communication in nonhuman animals and humans, and the evolution of syntax.

Her webpage can be accessed here: https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/philosophy/people/palazzolo/.

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