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Darwin's biosemiotics
the linguistic rubicon in the descent of man
pp. 257-273
Abstract
In this essay I shall attempt to show how Darwin's work on, and contribution to, linguistics has often charted a proto-biosemiotic trajectory of thought. While modern linguistic studies have tended to explore Darwin's contribution to linguistics adopting a Saussurean view I argue that such views undermine Darwin's notion of continuity between animals and humans and I propose to look at Darwin's theory of language, which stems from the Romantic thought, by adopting a biosemiotic perspective which clarifies Darwin's own ideas on the origin of language and animal evolution as well as their inter-relations.
Publication details
Published in:
Velmezova Ekaterina, Kull Kalevi, Cowley Stephen J. (2015) Biosemiotic perspectives on language and linguistics. Dordrecht, Springer.
Pages: 257-273
DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-20663-9_14
Full citation:
Neubauer Deana (2015) „Darwin's biosemiotics: the linguistic rubicon in the descent of man“, In: E. Velmezova, K. Kull & S. J. Cowley (eds.), Biosemiotic perspectives on language and linguistics, Dordrecht, Springer, 257–273.