NCCR Evolving Language

Language is what distinguishes human beings from all other species. However, its evolutionary origins remain poorly understood. In addition, today’s communicative environment is being reshaped by digitalisation and artificial intelligence: the way we learn and use language has changed, raising the question of how language might develop in the future. The National Centre of Competence in Research “The Origins and Future of Language” (NCCR Evolving Language) explores the evolutionary origins and future development of linguistic communication in a research programme that integrates expertise from linguistics, neuroscience, biology, anthropology, psychology, medicine, genetics, computer science, mathematics and philosophy in a new joint discipline, Evolutionary Language Science. In the long run, the NCCR will establish NISLE, the National Centre for the Interdisciplinary Study of Language Evolution.

The NCCR encompasses two projects that target the core dynamics of language across generations, acquisition and diversification, and three projects that address specific properties of language – syntax, meaning and interaction. These projects are complemented by Transversal Task Forces, which stimulate collaboration by sharing methods, technologies and by fostering discussions on conceptual and ethical issues. Various internal grant opportunities stimulate innovative, outside-the-box research.