Homo loquens, homo ridens. Interrelations between laughter and language
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Abstract
The present review aims to conduct a comparative investigation between the two systems of laughter and language by integrating the tools of psycholinguistics, neuroscience, and anthropology. This analysis reveals that the phenomenon of laughter, often dismissed as a trivial paralinguistic fact, actually shares many constitutive traits with the linguistic faculty. Such evidence supports the hypothesis – as original as neglected – that the relationship between laughter and language cannot be ascribed to a mere coexistence of mutually autonomous phenomena, but rather to an actual interdependence, with high degrees of coordination. The observed similarities on a synchronic level legitimize the exploration of a paradigm of co-genesis and long-lasting co-evolution of language and laughter in the development of the human species.
Keywords
- laughter
- language
- humor
- vocalization
- glottogenesis
- phono-articulation
- prosody
- mirror system
- empathy
- contagiousness
- bipedality
- sociality
- abstract concepts
