Chapter One
Why is language unique to humans?
Jacques Mehler, Marina Nespor, Mohinish Shukla and Marcela Pena
Abstract. Cognitive neuroscience has focused on language acquisition as one of the main
domains to test the respective roles of statistical vs. rule-like computation. Recent studies
have uncovered that the brain of human neonates displays a typical signature in response
to speech sounds even a few hours after birth. This suggests that neuroscience and linguistics
converge on the view that, to a large extent, language acquisition arises due to our
genetic endowment. Our research has also shown how statistical dependencies and the
ability to draw structural generalizations are basic processes that interact intimately. First,
we explore how the rhythmic properties of language bias word segmentation. Second, we
demonstrat ... read full excerpt from Percept, Decision, Action: Bridging the Gaps, No. 270 ebook
