Introducing the Problem of the Origins of Meaning

Clicks: 1
ID: 338280
2026
Free PDF
Article Quality & Performance Metrics
Overall Quality
Not rated
Combines reader engagement with the AI quality analysis. This article has not been analysed, so there is no overall score — reader engagement is measured and shown alongside.
AI Quality Assessment
Not analyzed
Readership in this journal

Ranked #1,667 of 1,787 articles by views in Oxford University Press eBooks

Most read Least read

Bar heights use a square-root scale. Only the 120 most-read articles are drawn; the journal has 1,787 in total.

Mint this article as an NFT
Not yet minted

Create a permanent, verifiable on-chain record of this article on the Scimatic Network. The NFT is held in your Journament account, and you can withdraw it to your own wallet at any time.

5 SUSD one-off · no wallet required
Sign in to mint
Abstract
Abstract This introductory chapter explains the puzzle of language evolution. It begins by introducing a view labelled “continuity skepticism”. The view claims that there is an unbridgeable chasm—a ‘Rubicon’—separating human language from all animal communication systems, and that, therefore, there is no cogent way to explain the emergence of the former from the latter. The chapter introduces the notion of Protolanguage: a system of communication positioned between animal communication systems and human language. It then distinguishes between “two hard problems” of language evolution: the problem of the origins of meaning and the problem of the emergence of human language with its full suite of syntactic, semantic, and pragmatic properties. The first hard problem—which is the focus of this book—is presented in terms of the emergence of Protolanguage. The chapter concludes with a summary of the book’s chapters.
Reference Key
openalex_W7225175304 Use this key to autocite in the manuscript while using SciMatic Manuscript Manager or Thesis Manager
Authors Dorit Bar‐On
Are you one of these authors? Claim your profile
Journal Oxford University Press eBooks
Year 2026
DOI
10.1093/9780191862564.003.0001
URL
https://doi.org/10.1093/9780191862564.003.0001
Keywords Keywords not found

Citations

No citations found. To add a citation, contact the admin at info@scimatic.org

Comments

No comments yet. Be the first to comment on this article.