Why We Talk:

Why We Talk, Dessalles:

"What relevant speakers contrive to show is that they are able to get information, or to find out where it is, sooner than others.  ... By drawing the attention of their fellows to salient situations, our ancestors were able to show that they were better than others at observing their environment, including their social environment, and getting from it what might be biologically relevant. It makes sense to assume that these individuals had more chance than others to influence the well-being of the coalitions they belonged to. If this was the case, a profitable strategy for all individuals was to join up with those who were able to show through language their ability to get relevant information from their physical and social environment.

In order for this explanation of the role of language to be consistent, the destiny of individuals must be closely linked with the destiny of the coalition they chose to belong to."

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"Speakers are eager to bring gifts of information because they have something to gain from them. Human beings turn into interlocutors for a fifth of their waking lives because they are in a game which, when played under nature’s conditions, is essential to their survival and procreation. The aim of the game is to discover whom to choose as allies ..."

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"Our actions are influenced in large measure by potential profits and losses in social status. The much-mentioned importance of the ‘gaze’ of others reminds us that it is the eyes of people who judge us. We are sensitive to the way we are regarded by those with whom we wish to associate, that is to say members of the coalitions we belong to or would like to belong to."

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"Language of the human variety, consisting of drawing others’ attention to salient situations and of testing the consistency of what is said, developed in a context peculiar to our lineage, namely a system of coalitions which constrains individuals to seek out the most promising coalition among those which are available."