语法的进化连续性及进化起源解释

Evolutionary continuity and origin explanation of syntax

语法是人类交流系统有别于其他动物的关键特征之一。行为比较研究表明,除人类外的其他灵长目动物也能理解并掌握抽象的顺序排序规则;神经生物学比较研究表明,支持排序处理的神经机制来自人类与其他灵长目动物共同具有的脑区。因此语法所依赖的序列学习能力在人类与其他灵长目动物间具有进化连续性。词汇限制假说、事件感知假说与自我驯化假说分别从不同角度对人类语法的进化起源进行了解释。未来研究需要探讨人工语法任务中所发现的脑神经机制是否是层级结构加工的通用处理器,并进一步澄清语义加工与语法加工的关系。

Syntax is an important characteristic of human communication system that distinguishes humans from other animals.Comparative behavioral studies have shown that other primates besides humans can understand serial order rules;Comparative neurobiological studies have shown that the neural mechanisms that support order processing come from brain regions shared by humans and other primates.Therefore sequence learning ability on which syntax depends have evolutionary continuity between humans and other primates.Lexical constraint hypothesis,event perception hypothesis and self-domestication hypothesis explain the evolutionary origin of human syntax from different perspectives.Future research should clarify whether the neural mechanisms found in artificial grammar tasks are common processors for hierarchical processing in all fields,and further explore the relationship between syntactic processing and semantic processing.