Gengo No Honshitsu Kotoba Ha Do Umare, Shinka Shita Ka (Chukoshinsho)

[Machine Translation] Language is a necessity of daily life and a source of intelligence and art. Why do we have language? How do children learn language? What is the origin of language in the giant system? What is the difference between humans, AI, and animals? To question the nature of language is to question what it means to be human. The keys are onomatopoeia and the uniquely human ability to learn through abductive (hypothesis-forming) reasoning. Cognitive scientists and linguists join forces to unravel the mysteries of the birth and evolution of language, and to get to the root of what makes us human.

日常生活の必需品であり、知性や芸術の源である言語。なぜヒトはことばを持つのか?子どもはいかにしてことばを覚えるのか?巨大システムの言語の起源とは?ヒトとAIや動物の違いは?言語の本質を問うことは、人間とは何かを考えることである。鍵は、オノマトペと、アブダクション(仮説形成)推論という人間特有の学ぶ力だ。認知科学者と言語学者が力を合わせ、言語の誕生と進化の謎を紐解き、ヒトの根源に迫る。