Re: [PALEO,LING] ] Re: Language, gesture, etc.

Ania Lian (ania@LINGUA.CLTR.UQ.OZ.AU)
Thu, 15 Feb 1996 10:37:44 +1000

On Wed, 14 Feb 1996, Danny Yee wrote:

> ancestor of Homo and Pan also did. So there is no doubt in my mind
> that gestural and vocal communication preceded grammar (which, ape
> language experiments notwithstanding, no non-human animals appear
> to have). Whether the latter *developed* directly from the former
> is another matter, of course...

What is grammar and what is its role? I often have the feeling that
hunams tend to say that grammar is what we have and they don't without
quite catching the meaning/function/role of grammar. This is that kind of
point of view where I come from, as a scholar.
a