Syntax Evolution: Problems and Recursion

TL;DR

This paper explores the evolution of syntax by linking it to Turing completeness and problem solving, proposing that syntax co-evolved with cognition to enable full problem solving in humans.

Contribution

It introduces a novel hypothesis that syntax and problem solving co-evolved towards Turing completeness, providing a new perspective on language evolution.

Findings

Syntax is necessary for representing problems.

Full problem solving requires a functional semantics on infinite tree-structured syntax.

Language evolution is linked to the evolution of cognition.

Abstract

To investigate the evolution of syntax, we need to ascertain the evolutionary r\^ole of syntax and, before that, the very nature of syntax. Here, we will assume that syntax is computing. And then, since we are computationally Turing complete, we meet an evolutionary anomaly, the anomaly of sytax: we are syntactically too competent for syntax. Assuming that problem solving is computing, and realizing that the evolutionary advantage of Turing completeness is full problem solving and not syntactic proficiency, we explain the anomaly of syntax by postulating that syntax and problem solving co-evolved in humans towards Turing completeness. Examining the requirements that full problem solving impose on language, we find firstly that semantics is not sufficient and that syntax is necessary to represent problems. Our final conclusion is that full problem solving requires a functional semantics on an infinite tree-structured syntax. Besides these results, the introduction of Turing completeness and problem solving to explain the evolution of syntax should help us to fit the evolution of language within the evolution of cognition, giving us some new clues to understand the elusive relation between language and thinking.