The Necessity Of Understanding Language Through The Brain

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It is unlikely a person would ever recall the moment of their very first utterance. After months of crying and cooing, the baby’s speech would start to resemble a form of mama, or dada as it starts to produce preliminary syllables in the early stages of linguistic development (Parker & Riley, 2010). Before you know it, the baby is able to comprehend words and even form basic sentences on their own. During this process no proper education is involved. Just like our instinct to use our feet to stand up and walk, it is as if we had it all along in our mental system how to manipulate our vocal apparatus to produce certain noises to communicate with our fellow humans. It does not end there. Not only do we communicate with this unique noise, but we are able to express our thoughts by connecting certain sounds with certain ideas (Darwin, 1981). Through this we are able to handle abstract concepts like time and space. We then figure out ways to convey these ideas through forms of writing. We record, contemplate and evolve. From what was a mere utterance have become the foundation of our civilization. We have separated ourselves from any other species alive through the use of language. The mechanism in which this intricate ability is created is through the interaction of multiple cognitive abilities with our brain serving as a hub. Therefore, without the study of the brain we cannot fully explain linguistic concepts like the language instinct, the theory of an innate human ability to use language (Pinker, 2000). Linguistics cannot hold its theoretical credentials without understanding how the brain has specifically evolved for this competence. This paper will explore how incorporating a neuroscientific approach in linguistics can help us better understand the mysteries of language.

Linguistics and Evolution

To distinguish humans from apes—our closest relatives—in their methods of communication we must approach linguistics from an evolutionary perspective. Although apes can verbally communicate by producing a form of speech, the evolutionary difference in the anatomy of the vocal tract gives humans the advantage in complex articulatory range. For instance, one of the most notable physical differences between the vocal apparatus of humans and apes is that the human larynx is located lower than that of the ape’s. This makes room for a larger pharynx and gives more control over intricate phonological articulation for the humans to utilize (Ghazanfar & Rendall, 2008) (Stebbins, 2007).

The evolutionary difference is also apparent in the brain. Animals are still able to communicate through speech, but there is a distinction between their communication methods and what we define as language in that the latter requires higher mental capabilities (Darwin, 1981). In the early stages of evolution, humans shared with the apes the same primitive ability to speak and hear. However, at some point in the evolutionary process, humans distinguished themselves by developing more complex use of sound with the use of phonology, semantics, morphology and syntax (Stebbins, 2007). This complex skill became an exclusive trait involves multiple brain activities simultaneously taking place at a highly intellectual level. Take reading ability for example. illustrates how interpreting the written text requires a combination of linguistic abilities and other neurological functions like the working memory, permanent memory, and visual processing (Vellutino, Fletcher, Snowling, & Scanlon, 2004). In this sense language is an innately human characteristic evolved exclusively for the brain with high cognitive capabilities.

Linguistics and the Brain

Since the evolution of the brain played a major role in human communication, language cannot be studied without it. However, early 20th century linguistics was approached predominantly from a behavioristic psychological perspective without much observation of the brain structure (Small, 2008). In the behaviorist perspective, language is acquired through stimulus and response, just like learning sports, disregarding the mental process playing a role in language acquisition (Skinner, 1957). Linguist Noam Chomsky (1965) argued otherwise, claiming the innateness of language instinct using the concept of Generative Grammar. Since then linguists’ main concern was how this language competence developed in the human brain (Pinker, 2000). However, the theoretic contemplations within the faculty of language were faced with the problem of not being able to provide tangible evidence for their arguments. It was not until the late 20th century that linguists were able to expand their understanding of the linguistic system in relation to the physiology of the brain with the advance of brain imaging technology (Small, 2008). This shift in paradigm coincided with the shift in the academics’ attitude of approaching language from a broader perspective that encompasses other cognitive faculties. For this purpose, linguists who study language from a biological point of view—biolinguists—coined the term of faculty of language in the broader sense (FLB) to take into account elements from the cognitive realm into linguistic territory (Boeckx, 2005). The idea is that the development of language can be deduced from the study of the evolutionary process of human’s brain. The linguists’ change in attitude in combination with brain imaging techniques opened brand new possibilities.

When Hurst, Baraister, Auger, Graham and Norell (1990) discovered that a similar type of language deficiency is apparent within 16 members of 3 generations of the KE family, they concluded that the phenomenon was related to a flaw in chromosome 7. This established ground for the correlation of language with genetics and therefore evolution. The use of fMRI took this a step further by observing defection in the Broca’s area within the family members and people who are not family members but share similar language deficiency (Vargha-Khadem, Gadian, Copp, & Mishkin, 2005). This research implies 1: The link between specific brain regions and language functions 2: The biological background of language development. This type of research would never have been possible without brain imaging technology.

Is Neuroscience Necessary For Linguistics?

The hazard linguistics could face without the presence of neuroscience is that linguistic theory lack the scientific ground it needs to establish credibility. Chomsky’s Generative Grammar was ground-breaking, but when examined from a non-linguistic perspective, it was a mere contemplation that the brain functions within the unconscious level in an unexplainable way that inexplicably generates grammar. As such, when confined within the area of linguistics, the academics could not offer the scientific explanation to back their argument. The evidence is merely empirical. This is similar to how Freudian psychology is criticized for the absence of scientific value. As we have established earlier that language is a result of multiple cognitive faculties interacting, it is inevitable to study the process of language production in relation to neuroscience.

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The Necessity Of Understanding Language Through The Brain

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