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What proper names, and their absence, do not demonstrate

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 January 2004

Andrew Carstairs-McCarthy
Andrew Carstairs-McCarthy
Affiliation:
Department of Linguistics, University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand andrew.carstairs-mccarthy@canterbury.ac.nz http://www.ling.canterbury.ac.nz/
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Abstract

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Hurford claims that empty variables antedated proper names in linguistic (not merely logical) predicate-argument structure, and this had an effect on visual perception. But his evidence, drawn from proper names and the supposed inability of nonhumans to recognise individual conspecifics, is weak. So visual perception seems less relevant to the evolution of grammar than Hurford thinks.

Type
Brief Report
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 26 , Issue 3 , June 2003 , pp. 288 - 289
Copyright
© 2003 Cambridge University Press