Persuasion and grammaticalization. An evolutionary pragmatic framework for the origin of language

In this article, I argue that the origins of syntax must be approached from the theoretical framework of evolutionary pragmatics. More specifically, I argue that the selective pressures for syntactic evolution must be identified in the conversational contexts in which linguistic expressions take shape. Conversation is the hallmark of human communication because humans always enter the communicative context with a particular point of view. It is this perspective view of conversation that enhances the persuasive nature of human communication. However, the persuasive nature of communication is also the factor that places human communication in a relationship of continuity with animal communication. Indeed, nonhuman animals also use the manipulative power of signals not to convey information, but to persuade others to act in a certain way. From this point of view, the persuasion model of communication is well suited to explain the origin and evolution of language, both in terms of what distinguishes and what unites human communication with that of other animals.