Stereotyped Vocalizations
Résumé
How did human communication evolve from an animal-like vocal system to spoken language? Research on primate communication in particular has produced a wealth of data, which highlight the various evolutionary continuities and discontinuities between animal and human communication. Research topics include the mechanisms and flexibility of sound production, how different call units are assembled into complex utterances, how meaning is extracted from vocal structures, and how the psychological mechanisms underlying animal call production and comprehension compare to those of humans. The purpose of this chapter is to present the state-of-the-art of these various strands of research and to show how methodological tools of linguistics can help decipher animal communication.