CHAPTER PLAN

Here begins our main topic. Now that we have an idea of what evolved, we can consider explanations of how it came about.

The sources of language dynamics sketched earlier are: (1) the imagery–language dialectic within each GP; (2) the incorporation of contexts into psychological predicates as GPs; (3) the further meanings and contexts generated in unpacking the GP; and (4) the larger-scale purposes and cultural beliefs and practices encompassed metapragmatically. The GP model applies at the intersection of the dynamic and static – and is itself the dynamic dimension's minimal Vygotskian unit.

The exposition in this chapter is straightforward. I start with a currently popular theory, “gesture-first,” and explain what it is and what is wrong with it, that it does not predict (and could not have led to) this dynamic dimension. Then I introduce an alternative, called “Mead’s Loop,” and explain it in detail, including how it could have been naturally selected and the changes it would have caused in mind and brain. I take up next the origin of syntax as explicated by Mead’s Loop and the brain model it suggests, including the forging in the evolving brain of a specific thought– language–hand link, and end with a proposed time-line for the beginning of language.