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megafauna before other predators and holding them off by working in coordinated groups. By imitating an animal, like a mammoth, one member could attempt to communicate information about such food sources. Although such imitative signaling retained an iconic character rather than fully symbolic, they involved an act of displacement in communication since the body could be miles away and discovered hours earlier. Over time, the sounds signifying something like a mammoth would be decontextualized and come to resemble something much more closely resembling a word. Displacement, Bickerton claims, is the hallmark feature of language.
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In
Bickerton's view, these words allowed the formation of concepts rather than mere categories that animals are also capable of. Words began as the anchors for sensory information and memories about a specific animal or object. Once the brain had words it could create concepts which came together as
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Bickerton argues that peculiar features characterizing the ecological niche of early man allowed for this breakthrough from an ACS into language. He cites the fact that around two million years ago our ancestors were finding their way to the top of a scavenging pyramid, accessing the carcasses of
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To answer questions about creole formation, in the late 1970s
Bickerton proposed an experiment that involves marooning on an island six couples speaking six different languages, along with children too young to have acquired their parentsā languages. The
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to supply the required evolutionary catalyst. He claims that human language is not on a continuum with animal communication systems (ACSs) but is a qualitatively different communicative system. Animal communication systems are only
306:, restricted to conveying information about immediate circumstances insofar as these impinge upon individual survival, reproduction, and social relations. Human language, on the other hand, is capable of spatial and temporal
286:(2008), he describes himself as a "street linguist" who emphasizes field work, with a "total lack of respect for the respectable", and he outlines his theories for a general audience.
279:(2000), he and William Calvin revise this speculative theory by considering the biological foundations of symbolic representation and their influence on the evolution of the brain.
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Bickerton also wrote several novels. His novels have been featured in the works of the Sun Ra
Revival Post Krautrock Archestra, through spoken word and musical themes.
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271:. Using primitive communication faculties, which then evolved in parallel, mental models became shared representations subject to
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for a million years or more, eventually it went from the "beads-on-a-string" model of speech to a hierarchical structure through
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can be traced to the evolution of representation systems and symbolic thinking, together with a later development of formal
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193:, England in 1949, Derek Bickerton entered academic life in the 1960s, first as a lecturer in English Literature at the
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in Guyana and Hawaii, he has proposed that the features of creole languages provide powerful insights into the
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both by individuals and as a feature of the human species. He is the originator and main proponent of the
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The
Murders of Boysie Singh: Robber, Arsonist, Pirate, Mass-Murderer, Vice and Gambling King of Trinidad
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263:(1990), he suggests that all three questions might be answered by postulating that the
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according to which the similarity of creoles is due to their being formed from a prior
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142:(March 25, 1926 ā March 5, 2018) was an English-born linguist and professor at the
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Development and
Structures of Creole Languages: Essays in Honor of Derek Bickerton
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256:? 3) How did the language faculty originate as a feature of the human species?
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205:(1967ā71). For twenty-four years he was Associate Professor and Professor of
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Lingua ex
Machina: Reconciling Darwin and Chomsky with the Human Brain
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by children who all share a universal human innate grammar capacity.
228:. His other children are Julie Bickerton Bravata and Jim Bickerton.
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Bickerton, Derek, (1984). The language bioprogram hypothesis, in:
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deemed the proposed experiment unethical and refused to fund it.
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608: (archived July 9, 2011), inactive since 18 October 2009
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a 'protolanguage'. The protolanguage remained much like a
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Bickerton was born in
Cheshire in 1926. A graduate of the
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More than Nature Needs: Language, Mind, and
Evolution
248:(1981), Bickerton poses three questions: 1) How did
616:, "The Book Show", ABC Radio National, 24 May 2010
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326:. Bickerton died in March 2018 at the age of 91.
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293:(2009), he makes an argument about the
213:(1972ā96), having meanwhile received a
681:English emigrants to the United States
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551:Byrne, Francis; Huebner, Thom (1991).
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181:Conference of Derek Bickerton at the
691:Academics of the University of Leeds
593:A brief self-description related to
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656:Linguists from the United States
415:Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 7
351:. Arthur Barker Limited, London.
217:in linguistics in 1976 from the
183:2004 Universal Forum of Cultures
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425:. University of Chicago Press.
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252:originate? 2) How do children
211:University of HawaiŹ»i at MÄnoa
160:language bioprogram hypothesis
144:University of HawaiŹ»i at MÄnoa
115:University of HawaiŹ»i at MÄnoa
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532:Erard, Michael (2008-03-30).
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498:. Harvard University Press.
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686:People from Chelsea, London
440:Language and Human Behavior
362:Dynamics Of A Creole System
239:National Science Foundation
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397:. Language Science Press.
340:, 1959. Adapted into 1961
494:Bickerton, Derek (2014).
475:Bickerton, Derek (2009).
456:Bickerton, Derek (2008).
421:Bickerton, Derek (1990).
391:Bickerton, Derek (2016).
368:Bickerton, Derek (1981).
347:Bickerton, Derek (1962).
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578:DEREK BICKERTON Obituary
195:University of Cape Coast
127:University of Cape Coast
448:, 2000 (co-author with
221:. He is the father of
219:University of Cambridge
191:University of Cambridge
146:. Based on his work in
76:University of Cambridge
696:Linguists from England
641:20th-century linguists
342:film of the same title
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376:. Karoma Publishers.
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661:Historical linguists
423:Language and Species
261:Language and Species
203:University of Guyana
123:University of Guyana
356:Tropicana, A Novel.
223:contemporary artist
199:University of Leeds
119:University of Leeds
557:. John Benjamins.
538:The New York Times
534:"Walking the Talk"
299:niche construction
295:origin of language
273:cultural evolution
265:origin of language
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701:English novelists
595:Lingua ex Machina
505:978-0-674-72490-7
486:978-0-8090-2281-6
479:. Hill and Wang.
467:978-0-8090-2817-7
460:. Hill and Wang.
450:William H. Calvin
432:978-0-226-04610-5
404:978-3-946234-08-1
394:Roots of Language
383:978-0-89720-044-8
372:Roots of Language
277:Lingua ex Machina
246:Roots of Language
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95:Scientific career
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207:Linguistics
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173:Background
78:(PhD 1976)
44:1926-03-25
304:indexical
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232:Research
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86:work in
52:Cheshire
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209:at the
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320:pidgin
275:. In
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101:Fields
324:Merge
559:ISBN
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60:Died
38:Born
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Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
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