Selected books

Unravelling the evolution of language. Elsevier, Amsterdam, etc., 2003.

Twentieth century conceptions of language: mastering the metaphysics market. Blackwell, Oxford and New York, 1992.

Challenging Chomsky: the generative garden game. Blackwell, Oxford and New York, 1989. Reprinted in 1991.

Form and meaning in word formation: a study of Afrikaans reduplication. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, etc., 1988. Reprinted in 2006.

Morphological mechanisms: lexicalist analyses of synthetic compounding (Language and Communication Library , Vol. 6). Pergamon Press, Oxford, etc., 1984.

The conduct of linguistic inquiry: a systematic introduction to the methodology of generative grammar. Mouton/De Gruyter, The Hague, etc., 1981.

Methodological bases of a progressive mentalism. J. Hintikka (ed.), Synthese, Vol. 44, 1980.

Inleiding tot generatief taalonderzoek: Een methodologisch handboek. Wolters-Noordhoff, Groningen, 1978.

The justification of linguistic hypotheses: a study of non-demonstrative inference in transformational grammar, (Janua Linguarum Series Maior, Nr. 84). Mouton Publishers, The Hague and Paris, 1973.

Methodological aspects of transformational generative phonology, (Janua Linguarum Series Minor , Nr. 112). Mouton Publishers, The Hague and Paris, 1971.

The methodological status of grammatical argumentation, (Janua Linguarum Series Minor, Nr. 105). Mouton Publishers, The Hague and Paris, 1970.

The function of the lexicon in transformational generative grammar, (Janua Linguarum Series Maior , Nr. 38). Mouton Publishers, The Hague and Paris, 1968.

Selected articles and chapters on language evolution

Exaptation and emergence in the evolution of language. In: Everaert, M., Bolhuis, J. (Eds.). Birdsong, Speech and Language. MIT Press, to appear , pp. 1-35 (manuscript)

Inferring modern language from ancient objects. In: Gibson, K.R., Tallerman, M.O. (Eds.). Handbook of Language Evolution. Oxford University Press, Oxford, to appear, pp. 1-13

On the soundness of inferring modern language from symbolic behaviour. Cambridge Archaeological Journal 20, 2010: 345-356

What are windows on language evolution? In: Botha, R., de Swart, H. (Eds.). Language Evolution: The View from Restricted Linguistic Systems. LOT Ocasional Series 10, Utrecht, 2009, pp.1-20.

Introduction: rewards and challenges of multi-perspectival work on the evolution of language and speech. In: Botha, R., Knight, C. The Prehistory of Language. Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2009, pp. 1-11

Theoretical underpinnings of inferences about language evolution. In: Botha, R., Knight, C. (Eds.). The Cradle of Language. Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2009, pp.93-111.

On "musilanguage"/"Hmmmmm" as an evolutionary precursor to language. Language and Communication 29, 2009: 61-76.

On modelling prelinguistic evolution in early hominins. Language and Communication 28, 2008: 258-275.

Prehistoric shell beads as a window on language evolution. Language and Communication 28, 2008: 197-212.

On homesign systems as a window on language evolution. Language and Communication 27, 2007: 41-52.

Pidgin languages as a putative window on language evolution. Language and Communication 26, 2006b: 1-14.

On the Windows Approach to language evolution. Language and Communication 26, 2006a: 129-143.

Windows with a view on language evolution. European Review 12, 2004: 235-243.

Did language evolve like the vertebrate eye?Language and Communication 22, 2002: 131-158.

Are there features of language that arose like birds' feathers?Language and Communication 22, 2002: 17-35.

How much of language, if any, came about in the same sort of way as the brooding chamber in snails? Language and Communication 21, 2001: 225-243.

On the role of bridge theories in accounts of the evolution of human language. Language and Communication 21, 2001: 61-71.

Discussing the evolution of the assorted beasts called “language”. Language and Communication 20, 2000: 149-160.

On Chomsky's "fable" of instantaneous language evolution. Language and Communication 19, 1999: 243-257.

Neo-Darwinian accounts of the evolution of language. 4 Questions about their comparative appraisal. Language and Communication 18, 1998: 227-249.

Neo-Darwinian accounts of the evolution of language. 3 Questions about their evidential bases, logic and rhetoric. Language and Communication 18, 1998: 17-46.

Neo-Darwinian accounts of the evolution of language. 2 Questions about complex design. Language and Communication 17, 1997: 319-340.

Neo-Darwinian accounts of the evolution of language. 1 Questions about their explanatory focus. Language and Communication 17, 1997: 249-267.

First co-editor of volumes on the evolution of language

The Prehistory of Language. With Knight, C. Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2009.

The Cradle of Language. With, Knight. C. Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2009.

Language Evolution: The View from Restricted Linguistic Systems. With de Swart, H. LOT Occasional Series 10, Utrecht, 2009.

The Evolutionary Emergence of Human Language. With Everaert, M. Oxford University Press, Oxford, in preparation.