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Updated: Apr 17, 2026

Computer-Generated Animal Model Stimuli
Published on: July 29, 2007
Meaning in animal and human communication
1Evolutionary Anthropology Research Group, Department of Anthropology, Durham University, Dawson Building, South Road, Durham, DH1 3LE, UK, t.c.scott-phillips@durham.ac.uk.
Abstract:
What is meaning? While traditionally the domain of philosophy and linguistics, this question, and others related to it, is critical for cognitive and comparative approaches to communication. This short essay provides a concise and accessible description of how the term meaning can and should be used, how it relates to 'intentional communication', and what would constitute good evidence of meaning in animal communication, in the sense that is relevant for comparisons with human language.
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