ANTH 246 - The Nature of Human Language

This course approaches language as fundamental to the study of human nature itself. Questions addressed include: What properties of language inform our understanding of ourselves as a species? How might human language be fundamentally different from other animal communication systems? How did language evolve? Did the capacity for linguistic complexity emerge gradually over time, or relatively suddenly? Is there a Universal Grammar shared by all humans? How is language instantiated in the human mind/brain?
Enrollment Limit: 25
Instructor: J. Haugen
Consent of the Instructor Required? No