The Biology of Language

What properties are common to all human languages? What can we learn about the biology of our language from people with brain defects such as Williams syndrome where people whose brain is so damaged that they have low IQs yet they are fluent in language? What does sign language tell us about the nature of our language faculty? Is our view of the world influenced by our language? What are the biological and cultural implications of the imminent loss of the countless languages that are no longer being taught to children?

Is language a motor skill (controlling breath, lips, and tongue or hands in the case of sign language)? What cognitive role is there in language? How do we learn language? What are the language centers of the brain?

What do we know about the genetics of language? How did language evolve? Can apes and chimpanzees learn sign language?

This topic will be based on two optional video lectures by Robert Sapolsky about the biology of language.

• Nearly 2 hour video by Robert Sapolsky on Language. Read Jon Dakins' notes summarizing the lecture. (http://www.robertsapolskyrocks.com/language.html) Read CJ Fearnley's detailed notes summarizing and commenting on the lecture. (https://www.facebook.com/cj.fearnley/posts/10206547472061163)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SIOQgY1tqrU

• Only the first 23 minutes of the following video are on the biology of Language (we will not discuss the second part of the video on Schizophrenia at this meetup). Read Jon Dakin's notes summarizing the lecture (http://www.robertsapolskyrocks.com/schizophrenia.html). Read CJ Fearnley's detailed notes summarizing and commenting on the first 23 minutes of the lecture (https://www.facebook.com/cj.fearnley/posts/10206555305977006).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nEnklxGAmak