title: Chimpanzee sign language and Darwinian continuity: evidence for a neurological continuity for language.
abstract: The current article addresses the empirical validity of the Cartesian view of language by first examining a sample of the results generated by over 30 years of chimpanzee sign language studies and then examining some neurological and behavioral data that accounts for the similarity between human and nonhuman communication systems. Finally an attempt will be made to propose a unified model of language that accounts for these findings and shows how the Cartesian world view has proposed a theory of language that is incomplete.
authors.affiliation: Chimpanzee and Human Communication Institute, Central Washington University, Ellensburg, WA 98926-7573, USA.
authors.forename: R S
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Fouts
authors.forename: G S
authors.initials: GS
authors.lastname: Waters
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005075:Biological Evolution; D001921:Brain / Q000502:physiology; D003469:Culture; D006801:Humans; D007802:Language; D002679:Pan troglodytes / Q000523:psychology*; D010684:Philosophy; D012813:Sign Language