Dalla semantica alla pragmatica: sul significato dei segni negli animali non umani

Do animal signals have meaning? Animal communication studies have been trying to answer this question for the last four decades. This paper reconstructs the debate on animal meaning focusing on the shift from a semantic to a pragmatic approach, and analysing it on both empirical and theoretical grounds. The aim of this reconstruction will be to highlight the potential of the pragmatic perspective and the challenges that our understanding of animal meaning still poses for future research.