Publications

For most of my papers, you can find preprint PDFs or links to open-access versions below. If you are interested in one of the other papers, please don’t hesitate to write me an e-mail (sharedsymbolicstorage [at] gmail [dot] com).

Monographs

Pleyer, Michael. 2020. The Everyday Use of pretend in Child Language and Child-Directed Speech: A Corpus Study. Heidelberg: heiDOK. DOI: 10.11588/heidok.00028873 . [link] [pdf]

Pleyer, Michael & Stefan Hartmann. 2024. Cognitive Linguistics and Language Evolution (Cambridge Elements in Cognitive Linguistics). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009385022 

Journal Articles (peer-reviewed)

Delliponti, Angelo D., Renato Raia, Giulia Sanguedolce, Adam Gutowski, Michael Pleyer, Marta Sibierska, Marek Placiński, Pryemzsław Żzwiczński & Sławomor Wacewicz. 2023. Experimental Semiotics: A Systematic Categorization of Experimental Studies on the Bootstrapping of Communication Systems. Biosemiotics 16. 291-310. DOI: 10.1007/s12304-023-09534-x [link]

Gontier, Nathalie, Stefan Hartmann, Michael Pleyer & Evelina Daniela Rodrigues. 2024. Combinatoriality and Compositionality in Communication, Skills, Tool Use, and Language. International Journal of Primatology. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10764-024-00416-8

Hartmann, Stefan & Michael Pleyer. 2021. Constructing a Protolanguage: Reconstructing Prehistoric Languages in a Usage-Based Construction Grammar Framework. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 376: 20200200. DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2020.0200 [link] [Author Accepted Manuscript]

Hartmann, Stefan, Michael Pleyer, Sławomir Wacewicz, Antonio Benítez-Burraco & Przemysław Żywiczyński. 2021.  Hypotheses and Definitions in Language Evolution Research: Reply to Mendívil-Giró. Biolinguistics 15. 1-11.  DOI: 10.5964/bioling.9191. [link]

Matzinger, Theresa, Michael Pleyer, & Przemysław Żywiczyński. 2023. "Pause Length and Differences in Cognitive State Attribution in Native and Non-Native Speakers" Languages 8(1). 26. DOI: 10.3390/languages8010026. [link] 

Pleyer, Michael. 2023. The Role of Interactional and Cognitive Mechanisms in the Evolution of (Proto)languages. Lingua 282. 103458. DOI: 10.1016/j.lingua.2022.103458. [link]

Pleyer, Michael. 2017. Protolanguage and the Dynamics of Meaning Construal in Interaction. Language Sciences 63. 69-90. DOI: 10.1016/j.langsci.2017.01.003  [link] [preprint]

Pleyer, Michael & Stefan Hartmann. 2020. Construction Grammar for Monkeys? Animal Communication in the Light of Usage-Based Linguistic Theory. Evolutionary Linguistic Theory 2(2). 154-196. DOI: 10.1075/elt.00021.ple [link] [preprint]

Pleyer, Michael & Stefan Hartmann. 2019. Constructing a Consensus on Language Evolution? Convergences and Differences Between Biolinguistic and Usage-Based Approaches. Frontiers in Psychology: Language Sciences 10. 2537. DOI:10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02537 [link] [preprint]

Pleyer, Michael & Anita Galuschek. 2016. Perspektiven auf Sinn und Verstehen von Symbolen in der Lebenswelt [Perspectives on the Meaning and Comprehension of Symbols in the Lifeworld]. Zeitschrift für Theoretische Soziologie (Special Issue 3). 163-187. [preprint] [pdf] [link]

Pleyer, Michael & James Winters. 2014. Integrating Cognitive Linguistics and Language Evolution Research. Theoria et Historia Scientiarum 11. 19-44. DOI: 10.12775/ths-2014-002 [link] [pdf] 

Pleyer, Michael, Ryan Lepic & Stefan Hartmann. 2022. Compositionality in Different Modalities: A View from Usage-Based Linguistics. International Journal of Primatology.  DOI: 0.1007/s10764-022-00330-x [link] [pdf]

Pleyer, Michael, Stefan Hartmann, James Winters & Jordan Zlatev. 2017. Interaction and Iconicity in the Evolution of Language. Interaction Studies 18(3). 303-313. DOI: 10.1075/is.18.3.01ple [link] [preprint]

Wacewicz, Sławomir, Michael Pleyer, Aleksandra Szczepańska, Aleksandra Ewa Poniewierska, & Przemysław Żywiczyński. 2023. The Representation of Animal Communication and Language Evolution in Introductory Linguistics Textbooks. Journal of Language Evolution. DOI: 10.1093/jole/lzac010 [link]

Wacewicz, Sławomir, Przemysław Żywiczyński, Stefan Hartmann, Michael Pleyer & Antonio Benítez-Burraco. 2020. Language in Language Evolution Research: Towards a Pluralistic View. Biolinguistics 14. 59-101.  DOI: 10.5964/bioling.9157 [link]

Zhang, Elizabeth Qing & Michael Pleyer. 2024. Toward Interdisciplinary Integration in the Study of Comparative Cognition: Insights from Studying the Evolution of Multimodal Communication. Comparative Cognition and Behavior Reviews 19. 85-90. https://doi.org/10.3819/CCBR.2024.190017 [link] [pdf]

Chapters in edited volumes (peer-reviewed)

Hartmann, Stefan & Michael Pleyer. to appear.  Corpus-based Approaches to Evolutionary Dynamics in Language. In Limor Raviv & Cedrick Boeckx (eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Approaches to Language Evolution. Oxford: Oxford University Press. [Preprint]

Juchem-Grundmann, Constanze, Michael Pleyer & Monika Pleyer. 2019. Introduction. Yearbook of the German Cognitive Linguistics Association 7. 1-8. DOI: 10.1515/gcla-2019-0001 [link]

Pleyer, Michael. 2017. Sprachliche Perspektivierungsmuster des Englischen: Struktur, Erwerb, kognitive und interaktionale Grundlagen. [Linguistic Perspectivation Patterns of English: Structure, Acquisition, Cognitive and Interactional Foundations]. In Saskia Kersten & Monika Reif (Eds.), Neuere Entwicklungen in der angewandten Grammatikforschung: Korpora - Erwerb - Schnittstellen (Forum Angewandte Linguistik 61), 163-198. Frankfurt/Main: Peter Lang. DOI:10.3726/b11776  [link] [pdf]

Pleyer, Michael. 2014. Perspectival Construal Patterns in Language, Cognition and Interaction: Their Acquisition, Structure and Foundations. In Paula Rodríguez-Puente, Teresa Fanego, Evelyn Gandón-Chapela, Sara María Riveiro-Outeiral & María Luisa Roca-Varela (Eds.), Current Research in Applied Linguistics: Issues on Language and Cognition, 236-262. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing. [pdf]

Pleyer, Michael & Christian W. Schneider. 2014. Construal and Comics: The Multimodal Autobiography of Alison Bechdel’s Fun Home. In Chloe Harrison, Louise Nuttall, Peter Stockwell & Wenjuan Yuan (Eds.), Cognitive Grammar in Literature (Linguistic Approaches to Literature 17), 35-52. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.  DOI: 10.1075/lal.17.03ple [link] [preprint]

Schneider, Christian W. & Michael Pleyer. 2018. Cognitive Linguistics and Multimodal Poetics: Sequential and Summary Scanning in Graphic Literature. In Szilvia Csábi (Ed.), Expressive Minds and Artistic Creations: Studies in Cognitive Poetics, 255-278. Oxford: Oxford University Press. [link] [pdf]

Conference Proceedings (peer-reviewed)

Hartmann, Stefan & Michael Pleyer. 2020. A New Hope (for Common Ground)? Convergences Between Biolinguistic and Usage-Based Approaches to Language and Its Evolution. In:  A. Ravignani, C. Barbieri, M. Martins, M. Flaherty, Y. Jadoul, E. Lattenkamp, H. Little, K. Mudd & T. Verhoef (eds.), The Evolution of Language. Proceedings of the 13th International Conference (EvoLang13), 141-143. DOI:10.17617/2.3190925. [link] [pdf]

Hartmann, Stefan, Peeter Tinits, Jonas Nölle, Thomas Hartmann & Michael Pleyer. 2016. Plain Simple Complex Structures: The Emergence of Overspecification in an Iterated Learning Setup. In Sean G. Roberts, Christine Cuskley, Luke McCrohon, Lluís Barceló-Coblijn, Olga Feher & Tessa Verhoef (Eds.), The Evolution of Language. Proceedings of the 11th International Conference on the Evolution of Language (EVOLANG 11). [link] [pdf]

Littauer, Richard, Sean G. Roberts, James Winters, Rachel Bailes, Michael Pleyer & Hannah Little. 2014. From the Savannah to the Cloud: Blogging Evolutionary Linguistics Research. In Luke McCrohon, Tessa Verhoef, Bill Thompson & Hajime Yamauchi (Eds.), The Past, Present and Future of Language Evolution Research. Student Proceedings of the 9th International Conference on the Evolution of Language, 121-131. [pdf]

Littauer, Richard, James Winters, Sean G. Roberts, Hannah Little, Michael Pleyer & Bill Benzon. 2012. Academic Research in the Blogosphere: Adapting to New Risks and Opportunities on the Internet. In Jan Christoph Meister (Eds.), Digital Humanities 2012. Conference Abstracts. University of Hamburg, July 16-22, 268-269. Hamburg: Hamburg University Press. [link]

Pleyer, Michael. 2020. Pretend Play as a Scaffold for Language Evolution. In:  A. Ravignani, C. Barbieri, M. Martins, M. Flaherty, Y. Jadoul, E. Lattenkamp, H. Little, K. Mudd & T. Verhoef (eds.), The Evolution of Language. Proceedings of the 13th International Conference (EvoLang13), 345-355. DOI:10.17617/2.3190925. [link] [pdf]

Pleyer, Michael. 2018. Language Evolution and the Emergence of Constructions in Interaction. In Christine Cuskley, Molly Flaherty, Hannah Little, Luke McCrohon, Andrea Ravignani & Tessa Verhoef (Eds.), The Evolution of Language: Proceedings of the 12th International Conference (EVOLANGXII). [pdf]

Pleyer, Michael. 2014. Cognition, Usage, and Complex Systems: Evolving Theories of Language and their Relevance for Evolutionary Linguistics. In Luke McCrohon, Tessa Verhoef, Bill Thompson & Hajime Yamauchi (Eds.), The Past, Present and Future of Language Evolution Research. Student Proceedings of the 9th International Conference on the Evolution of Language, 64-74. [pdf]

Pleyer, Michael. 2012. Cognitive Construal, Mental Spaces and the Evolution of Language and Cognition. In Thomas C. Scott-Phillips, Monica Tamariz, Erica. A. Cartmill & James R. Hurford (Eds.), The Evolution of Language. Proceedings of the 9th Conference on the Evolution of Language, 288-295. Singapore: World Scientific. [pdf]

Pleyer, Michael. 2012. Perspective and Perspectivation in Language and Cognition: A Cognitive-Linguistic and Cognitive-Developmental Approach. In Ute Schmid et al. (Eds.), Proceedings of KogWis2012. 11th Biannual Conference of the German Cognitive Science Society, 46-47. Bamberg: Bamberg University Press. [pdf]

Pleyer, Michael & Stefan Hartmann. 2016. Construction Grammar for Apes. In Sean G. Roberts, Christine Cuskley, Luke McCrohon, Lluís Barceló-Coblijn, Olga Feher & Tessa Verhoef (Eds.), The Evolution of Language. Proceedings of the 11th International Conference on the Evolution of Language (EVOLANG 11). [link] [pdf]

Pleyer, Michael & Stefan Hartmann. 2014. A Matter of Perspective: Viewpoint Phenomena in the Evolution of Grammar. In Erica A. Cartmill, Seán Roberts, Heidi Lyn & Hannah Cornish (Eds.), The Evolution of Language. Proceedings of the 10th International Conference on the Evolution of Language, 98-105. Singapore: World Scientific. [pdf]

Pleyer, Michael & Nicolas Lindner. 2014. Constructions, Construal and Cooperation in the Evolution of Language. In Erica A. Cartmill, Seán Roberts, Heidi Lyn & Hannah Cornish (Eds.), The Evolution of Language. Proceedings of the 10th International Conference on the Evolution of Language, 244-251. Singapore: World Scientific. [pdf]

Pleyer, Michael & Martin Zettersten. 2012. From Cognition to Corpus, from Corpus to Cognition: How Corpus Research in Child Language can Benefit from Research in Developmental Psychology, and Vice Versa. In Ute Schmid et al. (Eds.), Proceedings of KogWis2012. 11th Biannual Conference of the German Cognitive Science Society, 139-140. Bamberg: Bamberg University Press. [pdf]

Pleyer, Michael & Elizabeth Qing Zhang. 2022. Re-Evaluating Hockett's Design Features From a Cognitive and Neuroscience Perspective: The Case of Displacement. In Ravignani, A., (Eds.): Proceedings of the Joint Conference on Language Evolution (JCoLE). doi:10.17617/2.3398549.  [link] [pdf]

Pleyer, Michael, Svetlana Kuleshova & Elizabeth Qing Zhang. 2023. Analogy and the Evolution of the Cognitive Foundations of Metaphor: A Comparative and Archaeological Perspective. In M. Goldwater, F. K. Anggoro, B. K. Hayes, & D. C. Ong (Eds.), Proceedings of the 45th Annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society.  [link]

Pleyer, Monika & Michael Pleyer. 2022. An Evolutionary Perspective on Im/politeness and the Pragmatic Concept of Face. In Ravignani, A. et al. (Eds.): Proceedings of the Joint Conference on Language Evolution (JCoLE). doi:10.17617/2.3398549 . [link] [pdf]

Pleyer, Monika & Michael Pleyer. 2016. The Evolution of Im/Politeness. In Sean G. Roberts, Christine Cuskley, Luke McCrohon, Lluís Barceló-Coblijn, Olga Feher & Tessa Verhoef (Eds.), The Evolution of Language. Proceedings of the 11th International Conference on the Evolution of Language (EVOLANG 11). [link] [pdf]

Szczepańska, Aleksandra, Aleksandra Poniewierska, Michael Pleyer, Przemysław Żywiczyński & Sławomir Wacewicz. 2022. What Linguistics Textbooks Teach About Language Evolution. In Ravignani, A. et al. (Eds.): Proceedings of the Joint Conference on Language Evolution (JCoLE). doi:10.17617/2.3398549.  [link] [pdf]

Vasileva, Olga & Michael Pleyer. 2022.. Language Development and Cognitive Ontogeny: An Important Link. In Ravignani, A.. et al.  (Eds.): Proceedings of the Joint Conference on Language Evolution (JCoLE). doi:10.17617/2.3398549. [link] [pdf]

Winters, James & Michael Pleyer. 2012. Cognitive Linguistics as a Framework to Study the Evolution of Language. In Ute Schmid et al. (Eds.), Proceedings of KogWis2012. 11th Biannual Conference of the German Cognitive Science Society, 112-113. Bamberg: Bamberg University Press. [pdf]

Zhang, Elizabeth Qing, Edward Ruyoang Shi & Michael Pleyer. 2023. Categorical Learning and the Cognitive Foundations of Language Evolution and Development. In M. Goldwater, F. K. Anggoro, B. K. Hayes, & D. C. Ong (Eds.), Proceedings of the 45th Annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society.  [link]

Edited Volumes

Bainczyk-Crescentini, Marlene, Kathleen Ess, Michael Pleyer, & Monika Pleyer (Eds.). 2015. Identitäten/Identities: Interdisziplinäre Perspektiven. Heidelberg: Universitätsbibliothek Heidelberg. [link]

Hartmann, Stefan, Michael Pleyer, James Winters & Jordan Zlatev (Eds.). 2017. Interaction and Iconicity in the Evolution of Language. Special Issue of Interaction Studies 18(3). [link]

Juchem-Grundmann, Constanze, Michael Pleyer & Monika Pleyer (Eds.). 2019. Yearbook of the German Cognitive Linguistics Association 7. Berlin & Boston: de Gruyter. [link]

Book Reviews

Pleyer, Michael. 2023. Review of Arie Verhagen . 2021. Ten Lectures on Cognitive Evolutionary Linguistics. (Distinguished Lectures in Cognitive Linguistics 24). Leiden, London: Brill. 218 pp. Zeitschrift für Rezensionen zur germanistischen Sprachwissenschaft 15(1-2). DOI:10.1515/zrs-2023-2020 [link]

Pleyer, Michael. 2013. Review of Thomas Hoffmann and Graeme Trousdale (eds): The Oxford Handbook of Construction Grammar. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013.”In  Linguist List 24.3771 [link]

Pleyer, Michael. 2012. Review of Kelly S. Mix, Linda B. Smith, and Michael Gasser (Eds.), The Spatial Foundations of Language and Cognition. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010.  Language and Cognition 4(2), 127-134.  DOI:10.1515/langcog-2012-0008 [link]

Pleyer, Michael. 2012. “Review of Maggie Tallerman and Kathleen R. Gibson (Eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Language Evolution. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011. Linguist List 23.2181 [link]

Pleyer, Michael. 2011. Review of Carl F. Graumann and Werner Kallmeyer, eds. (2002):  Perspective and Perspectivation in Discourse. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins.       International Cognitive Linguistics Association Book Reviews.

Other Publications

Barceló-Coblijn, Lluís, Cory Cuthbertson, Kirsty E. Graham, Stefan Hartmann & Michael Pleyer. 2016. Conference Report on Evolang 11. Journal of Language Evolution 1(2). 159-162. DOI: 10.1093/jole/lzw010  [link] [pdf]

Pleyer, Michael. 2017. Wie fliegende Schweine in den Kopf kommen und die Grenzen des Möglichen überschreiten: Die kognitiven Grundlagen von Bedeutung in Sprache, Denken und Interaktion. [How Flying Pigs Get into Your Head and Cross the Boundaries of What is Possible: The Cognitive Foundations of Meaning in Language, Thought, and Interaction]. In Marco Michael Wagner & Ladislaus Ludescher (Eds.), Grenzüberschreitungen und Wendepunkte, 313-344. Frankfurt: Peter Lang. [link] [pdf]

Pleyer, Michael. 2012.  Human Uniqueness from the Perspective of Evolutionary Anthropology and Cognitive Science. Logoi: Heidelberger Graduiertenjournal für Geisteswissenschaften 2(2). 1-20. [link] [pdf]

Pleyer, Michael. 2011. The Biological Evolution of Language: A Brief Overview. Contributions to the Study of Language, Literature and Culture/Beiträge zur Sprach-, Literatur- und Kulturwissenschaft 2011.1 (Arbeitsblätter des Anglistischen Seminars Heidelberg). 75- 97. [pdf]

Pleyer, Michael & Monika Pleyer. 2014. Der Erwerb von Perspektivität in der früheren und späteren Kindheit [The Acquisition of Perspectivity in Early and Later Childhood]. In Ekkehard Felder & Marcus Müller (Eds.), Diskurszukünfte. 10. Jahrestagung des Forschungsnetzwerks „Sprache und Wissen.“ Jubiläumszeitschrift, 42-43. Heidelberg. [link] [pdf]