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<p>A significant body of research on the roots of human language highlights the crucial role played by changes in ancestral sociality. Recent studies have revived the hypothesis of human self-domestication, arguing that it provides new insights into the development of human sociality, cultural evolution, and symbolic communication. While the concept of domestication offers an intriguing interpretation of the co-evolution of body, cognition, and behavior, its application to human evolution is controversial. This paper explores an alternative perspective, suggesting that the enlanguagement of interactions may have acted as a catalyst for evolutionary change. We propose that the consolidation of enlanguaged practices, underpinned by the amplification of social dispositions, set in motion an evolutionary spiral. We explore how this process may have reshaped ancestral developmental trajectories and niches, ultimately culminating in the distinctive mode of life that characterizes our species.</p>
</abstract>

A significant body of research on the roots of human language highlights the crucial role played by changes in ancestral sociality. Recent studies have revived the hypothesis of human self-domestication, arguing that it provides new insights into the development of human sociality, cultural evolution, and symbolic communication. While the concept of domestication offers an intriguing interpretation of the co-evolution of body, cognition, and behavior, its application to human evolution is controversial. This paper explores an alternative perspective, suggesting that the enlanguagement of interactions may have acted as a catalyst for evolutionary change. We propose that the consolidation of enlanguaged practices, underpinned by the amplification of social dispositions, set in motion an evolutionary spiral. We explore how this process may have reshaped ancestral developmental trajectories and niches, ultimately culminating in the distinctive mode of life that characterizes our species.

Rethinking Sociality in Language Evolution: Enlanguagement as a Catalyst for Shifts in Developmental Pathways

Université de technologie de Compiègne (Alliance Sorbonne Université)

Linguistic Frontiers

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

A significant body of research on the roots of human language highlights the crucial role played by changes in ancestral sociality. Recent studies have revived...

Rethinking Sociality in Language Evolution: Enlanguagement as a Catalyst for Shifts in Developmental Pathways

Publié en ligne: 05 juil. 2024

Pages: 1 - 11

Reçu: 27 déc. 2023

Accepté: 05 mars 2024

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/lf-2024-0008

Mots clés
human evolution, human self-domestication, neoteny, languaging, enlanguaged practices

© 2024 Vincenzo Raimondi, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Rethinking Sociality in Language Evolution: Enlanguagement as a Catalyst for Shifts in Developmental Pathways

Publié en ligne: 05 juil. 2024

Pages: 1 - 11

Reçu: 27 déc. 2023

Accepté: 05 mars 2024

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/lf-2024-0008

Mots cléshuman evolution, human self-domestication, neoteny, languaging, enlanguaged practices

© 2024 Vincenzo Raimondi, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Mots clés
human evolution, human self-domestication, neoteny, languaging, enlanguaged practices