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The Human Language System

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The Nature of Language

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Abstract

The biological disposition of language (BDL) can involve activity-independent and activity dependent processes, but both process types can be regarded as the language genotype. The expression of the BDL follows a genetic program including proliferation and pruning of a gender-independent neural language network. The critical cortical regions and their connectivity relevant for language processing are discussed. These are among others different ventral and dorsal fiber tracts, the superior & middle and/or anterior & temporal gyrus, Broca’s area, premotor cortex, the frontal operculum, the parietal-temporal conjunction, and the right-sided posterior temporal gyrus. Cross- and within-domain research indicates that the neural language network is multi-functional, i.e, it serves different computations within a single domain (e.g., semantics and syntax) and across multiple domains (e.g., language and music).

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Donald Olding Hebb (1904–1985), a Canadian neuropsychologist, is considered as a pioneer of neural network models. The quote “Neurons that fire together wire together” is known as Hebb’s Law. Neurons, which fire together, are considered to be one group or processing unit, called “cell-assemblies.”

  2. 2.

    Comparable to Broca’s area, the left PT is typically larger than the one in the right hemisphere and this asymmetry has been also reported for chimpanzees (Carroll 2003). However, left-sided asymmetry of the PT seems to be associated with language laterality (Foundas et al. 1994).

  3. 3.

    Absolute or perfect pitch refers to a person’s skill to reproduce or identify a tone (usually in the domain of music) without hunting for the correct pitch. It appears that the absolute pitch is more common among speakers of tonal languages such as Chinese, Nilo-Saharan, Punjabi, Tai, or Vietnamese.

  4. 4.

    The STS separates the STG from the MTG.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Medicine, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California, USA

    Dieter Hillert

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  1. Dieter Hillert
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Correspondence to Dieter Hillert .

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Hillert, D. (2014). The Human Language System. In: The Nature of Language. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-0609-3_5

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