2025/10/05 by Marlen Fröhlich, Gerhard Jäger, Asya Achimova · 2 voices · 1 citation
Social Sciences · Psychology · Arts and Humanities · #Language and cultural evolution #Child and Animal Learning Development #Language, Discourse, Communication Strategies
paper · doi:10.1016/j.neubiorev.2025.106401
Ambiguity—the capacity for a signal to support multiple interpretations—has long been regarded as a hallmark of human language, linked to sophisticated syntax and pragmatics. Yet recent evidence shows that ambiguity is also widespread in nonhuman communication systems, especially among primates, where signals are routinely disambiguated through social and interactional context. We maintain that ambiguity is not a communicative flaw but an evolved strategy that enhances efficiency and flexibility across species. Drawing on cross-species data and probabilistic modelling, we argue that ambiguity offers adaptive benefits: balancing signal cost, informativeness, and interpretive flexibility. We propose that pragmatic ambiguity resolution likely predates language and reflects shared cognitive capacities for social inference. Recognising ambiguity as a comparative phenomenon reframes debates on language evolution and highlights shared adaptive pressures shaping communication systems. • Ambiguity is widespread in both human and non-human communication systems • In great apes, context and multimodality resolve signal ambiguity effectively • Ambiguity can be an adaptive strategy balancing cost and flexibility • Probabilistic models may reveal shared inference mechanisms across species • Recognising cross-species ambiguity reshapes views on language evolution