Edited by Przemysław Żywiczyński, Johan Blomberg and Monika Boruta-Żywiczyńska
Pantomime is a unique form of communication, which we improvise “on the fly” to transmit information when unable to use language, for example during intercultural contacts or when the use of language is blocked or constrained, as in the case of some medical conditions or the game of charades.… read more
This study explores how inter-turn speech pauses influence the perception of cognitive states such as knowledge, confidence, and willingness to grant requests in conversational settings. Longer pauses are typically associated with lower competence and willingness, but Matzinger et al. (2023)… read more
In this paper, we outline a novel approach to the study of pantomime, through applying the logic of evolutionary signalling theory to analysing the properties of the proposed precursors of language, in particular bodily-mimetic communication. We rely on a classic account by Krebs & Dawkins… read more
Adopting the conceptual-empirical loop of cognitive semiotics, we define narrative as a three-part structure consisting of Narration, Story and Event-sequence and primary narrativity as the process of interpreting a narrative from the former to the latter two. We distinguish between simple… read more
Several lines of research within developmental psychology, experimental semiotics and language origins studies have recently converged in their interest in pantomime as a system of bodily communication distinct from both language (spoken or signed) and nonlinguistic gesticulation. These… read more
In this paper, we complement proximate or ‘how’ explanations for the origins of language, broadening our perspective to include fitness-consequences explanations, i.e. ultimate, or ‘why’ explanations. We identify the platform of trust as a fundamental prerequisite for the development of a… read more
In this paper, we complement proximate or ‘how’ explanations for the origins of language, broadening our perspective to include fitness-consequences explanations, i.e. ultimate, or ‘why’ explanations. We identify the platform of trust as a fundamental prerequisite for the development of a… read more
A persistent controversy in language evolution research has been whether language emerged in the gestural-visual or in the vocal-auditory modality. A “dialectic” solution to this age-old debate has now been gaining ground: language was fully multimodal from the start and remains so to this day.… read more
Turn-taking – the coordinated and efficient transition between the roles of sender and receiver in communication – is a fundamental property of conversational interaction. The turn-taking mechanism depends on a variety of linguistic factors related to syntax, semantics and prosody, which have… read more
The age-old debate between the proponents of the gesture-first and speech-first positions has returned to occupy a central place in current language evolution theorizing. The gestural scenarios, suffering from the problem known as “modality transition” (why a gestural system would have changed… read more
