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Part of
Handbook of Pragmatics: Manual
Edited by Jef Verschueren and Jan-Ola Östman
[Handbook of Pragmatics M2] 2022
► pp. 542–557

Evolutionary pragmatics

Article outline
  • 1.Pragmaticism, pragmatics, adaptation and the evolution of language
  • 2.Sign-functions and their evolutionary significance
    • 2.1The triad of sign functions
    • 2.2The evolutionary interpretation of the triad of functions
    • 2.3Selective value of communication and symbolic behavior
  • 3.Can the pragmatics of tool production and tool-use tell us something about the origin of language?
    • 3.1Instrumentality in higher mammals and man
    • 3.2Is tool-making a pragmatic source of propositional semantics?
    • 3.3Cro-Magnon life space and the pragmatic space of decorated caves
  • 4.From ecological to cultural pragmatics
  • 5.Conclusions
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 3 October 2022
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/hop.m2.evo1
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