Palazzolo, Giulia (2025) A bounded hierarchy framework for the evolution of syntax. [Preprint]

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Abstract

Is syntax an evolutionary novelty in the human lineage? This question, along with the question of how human syntax evolved, is highly debated in the field of language evolution. In this paper, I reconstruct two prominent frameworks for studying the evolution of human syntax, which I call “unbounded hierarchy” (Bolhuis et al. 2018) and “compositional semantics” (Townsend et al. 2018). I argue that both frameworks face problems when it comes to explaining the evolution of human syntax. Considering these problems, as well as empirical evidence of hierarchy in nonhuman animals, I provide an alternative framework for studying the evolution of human syntax, which I call “bounded hierarchy”. The bounded hierarchy framework that I propose traces the evolutionary origins of human syntax to simpler forms of bounded hierarchy that may be present in extant nonhuman animals.

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Item Type:	Preprint
Creators:	Creators Email ORCID Palazzolo, Giulia giulia.palazzolo.1@warwick.ac.uk 0000-0002-2252-2905
Keywords:	the evolution of human syntax, animal sequences, the Merge hypothesis, hierarchy, compositional semantics, language evolution.
Subjects:	General Issues > Philosophers of Science
Depositing User:	Dr. Giulia Palazzolo
Date Deposited:	30 Sep 2025 10:41
Last Modified:	30 Sep 2025 10:41
Item ID:	26782
Subjects:	General Issues > Philosophers of Science
Date:	April 2025
URI:	https://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/id/eprint/26782

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