J. Zlatev
2009
The semiotic hierarchy: Life, consciousness, signs and languagePDF
Cognitive Semiotics 2009(4):169--200, 2009
This article outlines a general theory of meaning, The Semiotic Hierarchy, which distinguishes between four major levels in the organization of meaning: life, consciousness, sign function and language, where each of these, in this order, both rests on the previous ...
2008
The co-evolution of intersubjectivity and bodily mimesis
The shared mind: Perspectives on intersubjectivity, pages 215--244, 2008
This chapter presents an evolutionary and developmental model, according to which intersubjectivity is intimately tied to bodily mimesis–the use of the body for communicative and representational purposes–to an extent that intersubjectivity can be said to co-evolve ...
2006
Stages in the Evolution and Development of Sign Use (SEDSU)PDF
Proceedings of the 6th International Conference on the Evolution of Language, pages 379-387, 2006
We present the rationale and ongoing research of an interdisciplinary international project aiming at developing a novel theory of semiotic development, on the basis of broad developmental, cross-species and cross-cultural research. We focus on five social- cognitive domains: (i) ...MORE ⇓
We present the rationale and ongoing research of an interdisciplinary international project aiming at developing a novel theory of semiotic development, on the basis of broad developmental, cross-species and cross-cultural research. We focus on five social- cognitive domains: (i) perception and categorization, (ii) iconcity and pictures, (iii) space and metaphor, (iv) imitation and mimesis and (v) intersubjectivity and conventions, each of which is briefly described. Our main hypothesis is that what distinguishes human beings from other animals is an advanced capacity to engage in sign use, which on its part allowed for the evolution of language.