Eve spoke
Subtitle: human language and human evolution
By: Philip Lieberman.
Publisher: W.W. Norton
Published: 1998
Place of publication: New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 192
Subjects: Language and languages -- Origin.; Human evolution.; Behavior evolution.
Description: Eve Spoke presents a compelling case for the pivotal role that speech has played in human language and human evolution. Wrestling with the age-old question of why such a large gulf exists between humans and other animals, Philip Lieberman mines both the fossil record and modern neuro-scientific techniques to chart the development of the anatomy and brain mechanisms necessary for human language as we know it.

Eschewing any notion of a language gene or instinct, he pursues instead an evolutionary path in which environment acts on a biological capacity to reveal the interconnectedness of systems that make us most human: precise motor skills, speech, language, and complex thought. Lieberman interweaves decades of research in anthropology, neuroscience, psychology and linguistics into his exposition on the evolution of human speech.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. [163]-178) and index.