EN 2643 Lecture 1: 1; ORIGIN OF LANGUAGE & WRITING
27 Sep 2016
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Lecture 1: the origin of language and writing. Ian tattersall - american paleoanthropologist (study present/past human w/ fossils) Homo sapiens (modern man) appeared in africa 100,000 years ago. 60,000 years later (40,000 years ago) went to euripe & dominated the land. 5,000 years later (35,000 years ago) entered na. The ability to speak didn"t arise until 6,000 years ago. Only humans & birds can speak (due to position of larynx) African grey parrot: is best at speaking. Homo erectus: (upright man)-when we became upright, larynx drops = ability to speak. Brodmann areas 44: functions linked to speech production (areas 44+45 create the. Broca"s area) in the temporal lobe (supposed to be frontal???) Left hemisphere: language (if consciousness is on left -> right handed & vise versa) Exaptation: process in which a feature acquires a function that was not acquired through natural selection. Ex: dinosaurs had feathers before they flew (also birds are now technically di- nosaurs. )
