Language evolution: What linguists can contribute

Three factors contribute to the evolutionary development of an organism: (i) historical accident (the genetic raw material available for natural selection to work on); (ii) adaptation through natural selection; (iii) nonbiological (especially physical) constraints. The same factors apply in principle to characteristics of an organism, such as the biological basis of the capacity for language in humans. From the point of view of these three factors, the author discusses recent contributions from linguists to language evolution research, including the contributions in this volume. He emphasises the importance of language evolution research for the development of linguistic theory, and the consequent need for more linguists to get involved in language evolution research.