Anatomy matters

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Abstract
Anatomy Matters considers the shared concerns of cognitive science and linguistics, especially with respect to notions of modularity. In order to encourage interdisciplinary exploration of language phenomena, and a concomitant notion of “degrees of modularity” in the Jackendoff sense, the neurobiological basis of language and the emergence of language ability in the species is discussed. In humans (but not in other primates) the parietal-occipital-temporal junction with its connection to Broca’s area yields a plausible biological basis for Conceptual Structure, understood to be composed of hierarchically arranged, abstract meaning primitives derived from sensory perception. Consideration of the neuroanatomy, especially comparative primate neuroanatomy, leads to the expectation that evolutionary genetics must explain how the brain takes the necessary anatomical structure. The centrality of Conceptual Structure to these various concerns then connects to the question of whether linguists’ notions of modularity entail a realistic theory of mind.

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