Predavanje The Role of (Verbal) Aggression vs. Cooperation in Language Evolution - prof. dr Ljiljana Progovac

Zadovoljstvo nam je da vas obavestimo da će 20.4.2022. u 15.00, u sali 114 na Filozofskom fakultetu u Novom Sadu, prof. dr Ljiljana Progovac (Wayne State University, USA) održati predavanje pod naslovom The Role of (Verbal) Aggression vs. Cooperation in Language Evolution.

Abstract: This talk offers a cross-fertilization between a linguistic reconstruction of proto-syntax, and the biological theory of human origins, Self-Domestication (SD), whose central claim relies on the gradual decrease in reactive (although not proactive, premeditated) aggression. Our approach proposes a feedback loop between the cultural emergence of proto-syntax and verbal aggression, on the one hand, and the biological forces of SD that targeted the reduction of reactive aggression. We identify a common evolutionary cause which supported this feedback loop essential for human evolution, and which tied together (i) the evolution of grammar, (ii) the taming of humans, and (iii) cross-modality (associated with metaphoricity): the gradual enhancement of neuronal connectivity and density in the cortico-subcortical brain networks. Our evidence includes (i) syntactically reconstructed proxies (“living fossils”) of proto-syntax, (ii) cross-linguistic (typological) variation in syntax, (iii) fMRI experiments that tested this hypothesis, and (iv) cognitive disorders, in which these 3 essential dimensions cluster together: autism, Tourette’s Syndrome, schizophrenia, and synesthesia. As will be shown, these disorders offer a glimpse into certain aspects of crucial milestones in human evolution, including into how verbal aggression started to replace physical aggression and impulses. In this talk, I will also briefly discuss the role of proactive aggression, and the role of cooperation, in the evolution of our species.

Brief bio: Ljiljana Progovac is Professor of Linguistics at Wayne State University, specializing in syntax, Slavic syntax, and the evolution of syntax. These interests are reflected in the four books that she has authored: Positive and Negative Polarity (Cambridge University Press, 1994); A Syntax of Serbian (Slavica, 2005); Evolutionary Syntax (Oxford University Press, 2015); and A Critical Introduction to Language Evolution (Springer Expert Briefs, 2019). She has published over thirty journal articles, as well as numerous chapters, and has given several invited/plenary presentations including most recently: New Orleans, Chicago, Cambridge, MA (Harvard and MIT); Tokyo and Kyoto, Japan; Leipzig, Germany; Crete, Greece; Poznań, Poland; Belgrade.