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Kin term diversity is the result of multilevel, historical processes

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 December 2010

Fiona M. Jordan  and
Michael Dunn
Fiona M. Jordan
Affiliation:
Evolutionary Processes in Language and Culture, Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, PB310, 6500AH Nijmegen, The Netherlands. [email protected]@mpi.nlwww.mpi.nl/people/jordan-fionawww.mpi.nl/people/dunn-michael
Michael Dunn
Affiliation:
Evolutionary Processes in Language and Culture, Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, PB310, 6500AH Nijmegen, The Netherlands. [email protected]@mpi.nlwww.mpi.nl/people/jordan-fionawww.mpi.nl/people/dunn-michael
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Abstract

Explanations in the domain of kinship can be sought on several different levels: Jones addresses online processing, as well as issues of origins and innateness. We argue that his framework can more usefully be applied at the levels of developmental and historical change, the latter especially. A phylogenetic approach to the diversity of kinship terminologies is most urgently required.

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 33 , Issue 5 , October 2010 , pp. 388
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2010

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