The pragmatics of primate communication

Pragmatics is about how individuals use their inventory of semiotic devices, the strategic choices they make, in particular acts of communication. An interesting question is the degree to which other animal species, especially our nearest primate relatives, employ pragmatic strategies in their vocal and gestural communication. Based on a review of the evidence, it is concluded in this essay that primate communication displays almost none of the pragmatic dimensions that characterize human linguistic communication. The most fundamental reason is that nonhuman animal communication does not really take place on the mental or intersubjective plane at all. It is directed at the behavior and emotional states of others, not at their attentional or mental states. © 2004 Publié par Elsvier SAS pour Société française de psychologie.

Duke Scholars

Author Michael Tomasello Psychology & Neuroscience