Origins of Grammar

Martin Edwardes has taught psycholinguistics and statistics for social scientists at Kings College, London at BSc and MA levels, and was the web editor for the British Association for Applied Linguistics, 2004-2007. He is a Fellow of the Royal Anthropological Institute and an Associate Member of the British Computer Society.

• Part I: Making The Case \ 1. Why All the Fuss? \ 2. The Story So Far \ Part II: Looking at Grammar \ 3. The Heavy Hand of Generative Linguistics \ 4. Grammar Without Tiers \ 5. It's All in the Mind \ Part III: Looking at People \ 6. Being Human \ 7. The Weirdness of Self \ Part IV: A Speculation on Evolution \ 8. How Did We Come to Be Human? \ 9. How Did We Come to Use Language? \ Part V: Uncovering the Evidence \ 10. Animals: what nonhumans tell us about being human \ 11. Children: what human development tells us about being human \ 12. Temporality: what our understanding of time tells us about being human \ Part VI: Conclusions \ 13. What Are the Universals of Grammar \ 14. The Evolution of Grammar: what should we look for? \ Bibliography \ Index

"Martin Edwardes has written a knowledgeable and thoughtful book on the origins of grammar. I am happy to say that Edwardes' book complements my own book of the same title, taking a similar view on central issues such as the importance of meaning, of social interaction and a gradualist view of evolution. Valuably, Edwardes approaches the topic from an anthropological viewpoint, as his subtitle makes clear. Together, both books offer innovative and thorough coverage of the field. "