Lingua ex machina

the long version

"A proper lingua ex machina would be a language machine capable of nesting phrases and clauses inside one another, complete with evolutionary pedigree. Such circuitry for structured thought might also facilitate creative shaping up of quality (figuring out what to do with the leftovers in the refrigerator), contingency planning, procedural games, logic, and even music. And enhancing structural thought might give intelligence a big boost. Solve the cerebral circuitry for syntax, and you might solve them all." "William Calvin and Derek Bickerton offer three ways for getting from ape behaviors to syntax. They focus on the transition from simple word association in short sentences (proto-language) to longer recursively structural sentences (requiring syntax). They are after invention via sidesteps (Darwinian conversions of function), not straight-line gradual improvements."--BOOK JACKET.