Investigating sound patterns in interspecies interaction

• The special issue extends the study of sound patterns to interspecific interactions. • Humans adjust their talk to animal recipients, and respond to and mirror animal sounds. • Vocal and other sounds intertwine with other modalities of interspecies interaction. • The studies emphasize contextuality and interactiveness of sound patterns. • Human-animal interactions invite methodological and conceptual diversity and renewal. The humanities and social sciences are currently experiencing an “animal turn”, where new research perspectives on communicative resources have begun to flourish, and where new theoretical insights have helped language research situate itself in broader more-than-human debates. In this growing field, perspectives are being developed on the role of language for the way organisms are intertwined with their environments. This Special Issue focuses on vocal communication specifically. Vocal conduct in human-animal interactions is still under-explored, despite it being one of the core modalities for the joint enactment of the human-nonhuman relationship. The contributions to this Special Issue grasp the opportunity for a renewed and rigorous exploration of sound-based interaction between humans and animals, including the diversity of auditory resources used. In this introduction, we trace the research leading up to this point and provide an overview of individual contributions to the Special Issue.