title: Pragmatics and the aims of language evolution.
abstract: Pragmatics has historically played a relatively peripheral role in language evolution research. This is a profound mistake. Here I describe how a pragmatic perspective can inform language evolution in the most fundamental way: by making clear what the natural objects of study are, and hence what the aims of the field should be.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anthropology, Durham University, Durham, UK. t.c.scott-phillips@durham.ac.uk.|Evolutionary Anthropology Research Group, Department of Anthropology, Durham University, Dawson Building, South Road, Durham, DH1 3LE, UK. t.c.scott-phillips@durham.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Thomas C
authors.initials: TC
authors.lastname: Scott-Phillips
mesh_terms: D005075:Biological Evolution; D003142:Communication; D006801:Humans; D007802:Language; D012938:Social Perception
keywords: Communication; Language evolution; Pragmatics; Social cognition