Communicative interaction forms the core of human experience. In this fascinating book Levinson, one of the world's leading scholars in the field, explores how human communicative interaction is structured, the demands it puts on our cognitive processing, and how its system evolved out of continuities with other primate systems. It celebrates the role of the 'interaction engine' which drives our social interaction, not only in human life, but also in the evolution of our species – showing how exchanges such as words, glances, laughter and face-to-face encounters bring us our greatest and most difficult experiences, and have come to define what it means to be human. It draws extensively on the author's fieldwork with speakers across multiple cultures and communities, and was inspired by his own experiences during the Covid lockdown, when humans were starved of the very social interaction that shapes our lives. This title is also available as open access on Cambridge Core.

‘In this brilliant and original book, Stephen Levinson pulls the way we look at language inside out, and shows that rather than lying at the core of being human, it is the outcome of a much stronger drive - the ubiquity of human social interactions.’

Robert Foley - Leverhulme Professor of Human Evolution Emeritus, Fellow of King’s College, Cambridge

‘Levinson has written a stellar book, accessible to undergraduates, but also informative for experts in linguistics, anthropology, and related fields. In lucid and engaging prose, Levinson sets out cogent and learned arguments for universals of language practice quite different from the sorts of language universals commonly discussed by linguists. He then relates these to the development of human communication, thereby significantly advancing our understanding of how language evolved.’

Patrick Colm Hogan - Editor, The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the Language Sciences

‘Steve Levinson vividly brings to life the amazing ability humans have to communicate - even without language. This awe-inspiring exploration of the “interaction engine” delves into social interaction across cultures, the nuances of autism, and the dynamics of populism. A compelling and thought-provoking analysis of human sociality and the origins of language.’

Asifa Majid - Professor of Cognitive Science, University of Oxford