Review of The Origins of Meaning, review by Jen Maceyko [copied from]
Science and Spirit, 18(5), p.60 (November/December 2007)

The Origins of Meaning: Language in the Light of Evolution 1
James R. Hurford
Oxford University Press, 2007
388 pages. $35.00

HUMAN LANGUAGE: WHAT ANIMALS AREN'T TELLING

What do animals know and why aren't they telling us? These questions are the foundation of James R. Hurford's The Origins of Meaning. Not written for the weak-of-heart or those too proud to refer back to their freshman philosophy books, this work is a head-spinning, fact-packed examination of how human language came to be, before language was language and humans were humans.

Hurford undertook the thankless task of marrying numerous disciplines to create a ``detailed account of the evolution of language''. Drawing from philosophers, linguists, biologists, psychologists, and a range of other thinkers, he has constructed the beginning of a unique, interdisciplinary story of the development of language as we know it today. The knowledge gap on how animal ``knowing'' evolved into human language remains wide. But Hurford shows how constant research is closing that gap, a project to which he hopes to contribute in this work and a forthcoming second volume.

For decades, scholars from Ludwig Wittgenstein to Steven Pinker have debated the origins of human language and the driving force behind the human need to communicate. Hurford looks further back, prior to the formation of language and the requisite social bonds. He begins with animals and objects and moves deftly from there.

So what do animals know? This question leads to the first part of Hurford's study. He begins with the perception of objects, examines the types and uses of memory, and theorizes on the creation of facts and true statements. All the while, we are treated to the highlights and results of myriad scientific experiments: monkeys that respond to changes in color and texture, hens that recognize dominance in other hens, and scrub jays that recall where they have stored food for later.

The scientific experiments Hurford has chosen clearly illustrate the complexity of meaning -- the philosophical heart of this book. Meaning is not simply created by identifying a signifier and the signified (that is, a sound and object). It requires differentiation, categorization, a recognition of the ``state of affairs'' or environment, and numerous other processes, whether in humans or in animals.

And why aren't animals telling us what they know? The next part of Hurford's study leaves the animal mind and begins to examine communication acts -- from establishing sender and receiver relationships to developing shared actions, signals, and meanings. Animals are, primarily, inclined toward behavioral acts that signal and call to other memers of their respective groups. Among them are peacock tails and frog calls to signal their partners and the vocalization of female baboons before copulation. The examples are many, the interpretations straightforward.

Hurford is undoubtedly comfortable with his subject matter. He weaves science and theory together expertly. Unfortunately, the reader must wade through deep waters to reap the rewards. An initial struggle through a chapter on terminology, perhaps the only real hindrance to the book, may be too much for some readers. Admittedly, no work can be successful without a basic understanding by readers of all the definitions used throughout. But the flurry with which terms and definitions were presented in their origin and then revised or recast in this chapter (and in others) can overwhelm at times. Would a simple reference glossary have solved this problem?

Regardless of this drawback, this first volume has something that everyone can appreciate. Theorists will swim in the thoughtful examinations of Wittgenstein and Frans de Waal. Scientists will no doubt learn from the plethora of scientific experiments explored throughout. And the thinkers of tomorrow will be introduced to the possibilities of scholarship when one looks beyond rigid disciplinary boundaries. But the reader cannot forget that this is just the first leg of a journey toward human language. Hurford has set the stage for the second volume, which will move beyond animals and meaning to humans, groups, communication, and the challenges and rewards of the social aspects of language development.

--- Jen Maceyko

Jen Maceyko is a freelance writer in Washington, D. C.