Biological basis of linguistic and communicative systems: From neurolinguistics to neuropragmatics

Abstract

Humans characterize themselves by their ability to build instruments, among which language is the most relevant. Language is used in order to communicate thoughts and feelings to other individuals through the systematic combination of sounds, gestures, and symbols. This ability allows humans to reach other humans from a distance, both temporal and spatial. Moreover, language shapes the social structure of humans and is the most powerful medium to convey cognitive and emotional states and to give form to interpersonal relationships. All these attributes define and constitute our linguistic and communicative systems. © 2010 Springer-Verlag Milan.