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Communication Dans Un Congrès Année : 2000

Two stages in the evolution of language use

Résumé

The study of language use, usually called pragmatics, reveals that the competence of speakers is not monolithic. It can be split into two quite distinct behaviors. The first one deals with salient events; the second one deals with problematic situations. We claim that the second ability emerged long after the first one in hominid evolutionary history. A consistent scenario is that communication about salient events is what the protolanguage hypothesized by Bickerton (1990) was used for. The detection and collective processing of problematic situations can be understood as an additional ability which gave rise to modern language.

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Dates et versions

hal-00616437 , version 1 (22-08-2011)

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  • HAL Id : hal-00616437 , version 1

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Jean-Louis Dessalles. Two stages in the evolution of language use. Proceedings of the International Conference on the Evolution of Language, 2000, Paris, France. pp.77-80. ⟨hal-00616437⟩
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