Limor Raviv 🐘🤗🦒🍄🦄

Thank you Niel! ☺️

Really nice to see this reappraisal of "design features for language". Our book "A Multimodal Language Faculty" also discusses design features, and I believe presents the only model of language that satisfies the type of linguistic framework that they advocate www.bloomsbury.com/us/multimoda...

Sign language research provides some key data supporting this framework for language evolution

Fascinating thread and review, questioning the 'big bang' view of the emergence of language.

Thank you for this very insightful explainer thread about (y)our latest @science.org paper, @profsimonfisher.bsky.social - must read for everyone in linguistics!

Happy World #Linguistics Day everyone! If you're interested in #language and its evolution, these two threads are a good place to start!
bsky.app/profile/symb...

Looking forward to future projects with this crew! Was a joy to work on this admittedly difficult paper! Very proud of the final product. Have a look!

The ‘design features’ of language revisited. Just published (open access) by Pleyer, Perlman, Lupyan, de Reus & @limorraviv.bsky.social. doi.org/10.1016/j.ti...

Interesting re-reading & re-appraisal of a classic paper on the design features of specific cognitive systems like human language, by @symbolicstorage.bsky.social @mperlman.bsky.social @glupyan.bsky.social K de Reus & @limorraviv.bsky.social
@cp-trendscognsci.bsky.social 🧪

We hope this paper leads to renewed discussions and can provide a roadmap for future research comparing human language and non-human animal communication and for the study of language evolution.
Full paper here: doi.org/10.1016/j.ti...
Press release: www.mpi.nl/news/65-year...

Super proud of this fabulous team for challenging old comparative frameworks and rethinking what makes language language.
Read more in the thread below 👇 or here 📖😊: www.cell.com/trends/cogni...

The title page

🚨NEW PUBLICATION ALERT!🚨
The 'Design Features' of Language Revisited (w/ @mperlman.bsky.social @glupyan.bsky.social Koen de Reus & @limorraviv.bsky.social)
Feature Review out now in #OpenAccess in @cp-trendscognsci.bsky.social! #language #linguistics
Paper: doi.org/10.1016/j.ti...

Please find an available version here:
bsky.app/profile/prof...

Despite their allure, “silver bullet” arguments (in which uniqueness of our species is defined by one explanatory factor) are untenable in light of modern biology. Many scholars now view language emergence as dependent on convergence of multiple facets (physical, cognitive, social, cultural). 4/n

What enables human language? A biocultural framework Explaining the origins of language is a key challenge in understanding ourselves as a species. We present an empirical framework that draws on synergies across fields to facilitate robust studies of l...

Origins of language, one of humanity’s most distinctive traits, may be best explained as a unique convergence of multiple capacities each with its own evolutionary history, involving intertwined roles of biology & culture. This framing can expand research horizons. A 🧵 on our @science.org paper.🧪1/n

ORiGiNS OF LANGUAGe What enables human language? A biocultural framework Inbal Arnon1*, Liran Carmel2, Nicolas Claidière3,4,5, W. Tecumseh Fitch6, Susan Goldin-Meadow7, Simon Kirby8, Kazuo Okanoya9, Limor Raviv10,11, Lucie Wolters12, Simon E. Fisher13,14* Explaining the origins of language is a key challenge in understanding ourselves as a species. We present an empirical framework that draws on synergies across fields to facilitate robust studies of language evolution. The approach is multifaceted, seeing language emergence as dependent on the convergence of multiple capacities, each with their own evolutionary trajectories. It is explicitly biocultural, recognizing and incorporating the importance of both biological preparedness and cultural transmission as well as interactions between them. We demonstrate this approach through three case studies that examine the evolution of different facets involved in human language (vocal production learning, linguistic structure, and social underpinnings).

Review on language evolution just published - haven't read properly yet but from a quick skim looks important!
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Just emailed it to you! :)

Thank you so much Cedric! Means so much coming from you! :)

New paper argues language emerged from the interaction of biology and culture - not a single mutation. Vocal learning, grammar, and social sharing each evolved on their own but converged to make human language possible. www.mpi.nl/news/interac...

What enables human language? A biocultural framework Explaining the origins of language is a key challenge in understanding ourselves as a species. We present an empirical framework that draws on synergies across fields to facilitate robust studies of l...

Excellent @science.org review by an outstanding group, including @inbalarnon.bsky.social @profsimonfisher.bsky.social @limorraviv.bsky.social @simonkirby.bsky.social @lirancarmel.bsky.social @kazuookanoya.bsky.social @luciewolters.bsky.social
What enables human language? A biocultural framework
🧪

Interested in the evolution of human language? Check out our new paper in @science.org where we synthesize latest findings and outline a multifaceted, bio-cultural approach for studying how language evolved. Super proud of this work, and hoping it leads to exciting new research! tinyurl.com/ykacvanp

What enables human language? A biocultural framework Explaining the origins of language is a key challenge in understanding ourselves as a species. We present an empirical framework that draws on synergies across fields to facilitate robust studies of l...

What enables human language? A biocultural framework. New paper by Inbal Arnon & al. with @limorraviv.bsky.social , @profsimonfisher.bsky.social
doi.org/10.1126/science.adq8303

The amazing Bart de Boer is organizing a workshop at @evolangconf.bsky.social for exchanging techniques and ideas on how to use AI productively and correctly in language evolution research. Submissions are now open. Please spread the word! ai.vub.ac.be/~bart/AI_in_...

Systematicity, but not compositionality: Examining the emergence of linguistic structure in children and adults using iterated learning Recent work suggests that cultural transmission can lead to the emergence of linguistic structure as speakers’ weak individual biases become amplified…

Yes 100%!! Children are the most prototypical language learners in RL, which makes their cognitive constraints & learning biases super relevant for cultural evolution. We should replicate adult findings with children in order to validate / understand them better, e.g., share.google/6oq9RqdIzciR...

Absolutely 🙈🥲

Haha fair enough, no worries! 😊 I think the important take-home message is that we all share Lauren's frustration that knowledge from one domain is often not easily transferred and/or recognized by folks in another domain. Hopefully this paper helps to build better bridges between our communities!

Indeed. This is (sadly) not as entrenched in developmental psychology, formal linguistics, and even in the EvoLang community. We tried to do justice to scholars who have been arguing this for years by presenting their arguments in opposition to these misconceptions. See also
bsky.app/profile/limo...

Our goal was therefore to engage with the classic & contemporary arguments given by folks in the child-innovator camp, specifically by reviewing (and crediting!) all those who worked hard to dispute their claims over the years. Hope that gives some clarity, alongside the obvious press release 'buzz'

Indeed, in cases where the field is split it's always hard to strike a balance between "this is novel, pay attention" to "this is trivial and known". While many of our own-crowd luckily share our position, many others sadly don't (inc non-experts and the public, who often believe this misconception)

For decades, linguists assumed kids drive language change through ‘imperfect’ learning. New research by Raviv, Blasi & Kempe (Psychological Review) show that instead, adolescents and young adults are more likely to spread, normalize, and cement linguistic shifts. www.mpi.nl/news/young-c...