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SUMMARY:Why are humans the only species to have language? - Prof Robin Dun
 bar FBA (University of Liverpool)
DTSTART:20070503T160000Z
DTEND:20070503T173000Z
UID:TALK6260@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Andrew Caines
DESCRIPTION:Humans are the only species to have fully fledged language. Wh
 y should this be so?  I shall argue that language (and speech) evolved to 
 facilitate social bonding in social groups that became too large to bond b
 y the usual primate mechanism (social grooming). Hence\, in contrast to mo
 st traditional views (that language evolved to make technical communicatio
 n possible – the “this is how you make a stone tool” version of lang
 uage)\, I argue that language has a primarily social function (the “goss
 ip” theory of language evolution). I suggest that this explains many oth
 erwise rather odd features of how we use language in everyday contexts.
LOCATION:GR06-7\, English Faculty\, 9 West Road (Sidgwick Site)
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