Do we think with language, or is it just a communication device used for expression of completed thoughts? What is a difference between language and cognition? Chomsky (1995) suggested that these two abilities are separate and...
moreDo we think with language, or is it just a communication device used for expression of completed thoughts? What is a difference between language and cognition? Chomsky (1995) suggested that these two abilities are separate and independent. Cognitive linguistics emphasizes a single mechanism for both (Croft & Cruse, 2004). Evolutionary linguistics considers the process of transferring language from one generation to the next one (Hurford, 2008; Christiansen & Kirby, 2003; Cangelosi & Parisi, 2002). This process is a “bottleneck” that forms the language. Brighton, Smith, and Kirby (2005) demonstrated emergence of compositional language due to this bottleneck. Still, none of these approaches resulted in a computational theory explaining how humans acquire language and cognition. Here I discuss a computational model overcoming previous difficulties and based on a hypothesis that language and cognition are two separate and closely integrated abilities. I identify their functions and discuss why human thinking ability requires both language and cognition.
