Why study turn‐taking sequences in interspecies interactions?

Abstract

The "turn-taking" system, a notion referring to the dynamics of verbal exchanges in face-to-face interaction, is often presented as the hallmark of human language (Levinson, 2016). However, recent works have investigated turn-taking mechanisms in several nonhuman taxa, thus referring to the moment-by-moment coordinated alternation of actions or vocalizations, for instance in primates or birds. These findings have been interpreted as evidence of elementary forms of sequence organization in the animal world, and therefore as evidences of an evolutionary pathway, leading from very rough forms of signal alternation, to the complex multimodal and conversational turn-taking system used by humans. This article first reviews and discusses these findings.It then makes the case for going beyond the study of uniquely intra-specific forms of communication and interaction. It argues that considering interspecies interaction is of interest for social sciences in general, and linguistics scholarship in particular, at least in two respects. First, on an empirical level, to investigate a widespread phenomenon, namely ordinary human-animal interactions, as it occurs mostly in domestic settings -a topic that has been relatively neglected in the study of social interaction so far (for a range of reasons that we shall touch on). Secondly, on a more speculative level, it assumes that ordinary interspecies interactions, especially as they unfold with domestic pets or wild animals in natural settings (vs. in experimental settings), are a valuable locus to explore rudimentary forms of sequence organization, that are neither governed by linguistic and cultural norms, nor entirely the product of stereotypical species-related behavioral patterns. We posit that fundamental principles of sociality are to be found in the contextual adjustments of multimodal actions and in the emergence of meaning in interspecies interactions.

Coordinating social action: A primer for the cross-species investigation of communicative repair

“…We use this framework to review existing evidence and exemplify it by analysing examples of video-recorded interactions of chimpanzees, bonobos and humans. In doing so, we hope our research framework can be used as a template to produce systematic, comparative data on joint action in nonhuman animal species, and contribute towards stronger empirical foundations for the cross-species investigation of communicative behaviour [15][16][17]. With more comparative evidence on interactional structures across species, we may be able to trace evolutionary continuities in strategies for the resolution of communicative trouble, and to assess the extent to which repair may be part of a human-unique foundation on which language has evolved [8].…”

“…We see a productive methodological convergence between approaches rooted in conversation analysis [18,19,12] and primate interaction [3,15,20]; a possibility that has been hinted at sporadically [21][22][23] but only now, with the increasing availability of rich multimodal interactional data, is coming within reach. To make visible the convergence between disciplines, we start by defining and unpacking human concepts of repair (selfinitiated repair and other-initiated repair), to then translate them into species-agnostic phenomena that can be studied in non-linguistic species like nonhuman great apes.…”

Sequence organization and embodied mutual orientations: openings of social interactions between baboons

“…This has been recognized among infants, prior to the acquisition of language: children learn the principles of turn-taking before learning to speak [30], and they discover very early on the consequentiality of a first action on the next [31,32]. Moreover, not only turn-taking [33][34][35], but also sequence organization has been identified among animals [36][37][38][39][40]. This article contributes to the latter line of research, by demonstrating how engaging in openings and greetings, baboons treat the expectations set up by the action initiating a sequence, and inspect the sequential slot in which a second action is expected and publicly orient to its possible absence.…”

Coordinating social action: a primer for the cross-species investigation of communicative repair

“…A large array of comparative research on non-human primates has now demonstrated that at least some of the basic building blocks of repair are present beyond humans (e.g. turn-taking, [10][11][12] and flexible signalling via repetition and elaboration, [10,11]). Such findings suggest a potential evolutionary continuum of repair, insofar as the sophisticated cognitive processes constituting it (i.e.…”