Animal communication
Animal communication
Overview
Why study animal communication systems?
Design features: human language vs. animal communication systems
Chimp studies: can chimps learn language?
Evolution of language
Summary: innateness unit
Why study animal communication systems?
Similarities, differences between animal, human systems may help determine:
Whether or not humans are unique, and if so,
Which aspects of language are uniquely and definingly human
Design features of language, animal communication systems
Vocal-auditory channel
Does the system use only the VAC?
Human language: no:
modality (= channel): vocal-auditory, visual-gestural
written forms
Animal communication systems:
Mammals, birds: vocal auditory.
Crickets, rattlesnakes, woodpeckers: auditory but not vocal.
Bees, stickleback (fish): Visual-gestural.
Moths: chemical.
Arbitrariness
Sign: represents a real world referent or concept
Are signs of the system arbitrary or iconic?
In human language, signs are not iconic. Possible exception: onomatopoeia (sound symbolism).
But even onomatopoetic signs are arbitrary.
Variation across languages:
Imitating the sound of a sneeze:
English German Hebrew Arabic Japanese
[“tΣu] [h“tΣi] [“ptΣi] [(“ts] [h“kΣ((]
Variation within a single language (Witsuwit’en):
|t↔lc'↔l ~ t↔ltl↔ts |it (squirrel) is chattering. |
|t↔lquc ~ t↔lkw'akw |it (frog) is croaking. |
Arbitrariness not a unique characteristic of human language.
Responses of Vervet monkeys to 'eagle', 'leopard' and 'snake' predators (Figure 16.12)
Seagulls indicate aggression by turning away from opponent and pulling grass out of the ground
(Signs in animal communication systems can also be iconic: e.g. Japanese macaque (Figure 16.3) opening mouth and baring teeth to threaten.)
Cultural transmission (tradition)
Does a learner learn only from a more experienced user?
Humans: Critical Age cases like Genie: native speaker input is crucial in first language acquisition.
Animals: Some aspects seem to be innate, some learned.
Innate aspects:
European cuckoo: Birds reared in isolation sing song of species.
Bees: Austrian and Italian honeybees do different kinds of dances (represent different honeybee “dialects”). (Italian use sickle dance to represent intermediate-distance food source; Austrian do not) Hybrids of Austrian and Italian honeybees do dance of parent they most resemble physically. Also, bee raised in isolation has no problem doing dance.
Learned aspects:
Bullfinch: males can learn canary song
Some birds reared in isolation don't sing right (critical period for song acquisition)
Cultural transmission of system not unique to humans.
Interchangeability
Can the sender and receiver roles be interchanged?
Humans: yes, but some male and female differences possible. Witsuwit'en lexical differences:
-yez 'son, daughter (of woman)'
-tsΕ 'daughter (of man)'
-yi/ 'son (of man)'
Interchangeability not unique to humans: many animal communication systems have interchangeable roles.
Many animal communication systems don't have interchangeability:
Female vs. male differences in moth communication.
Stickleback courtship dance done by males differs from that done by females; neither can do the other's dance.
Semanticity
Do signs of the system convey meaning?
Semantic component of some morphemes in human language:
past (tense)
‘yesterday’
[maja] (Sanskrit) ‘the mistaken belief that a sign is the same as its referent’
Animal communication systems seem to express a more limited range of meanings.
Displacement
Can the system be used to talk about things removed from here and now?
Humans, yes. Animals, only in a limited way.
Bees can talk about sources of food that are not in immediate environment (but only source of nectar just visited, not one visited yesterday, or two trips earlier).
Creativity (productivity)
Can the system be used to talk about anything? Is it “fully expressive”?
Human language: yes. Animal communication systems: do not appear to be open-ended.
Bee dancing exhibits displacement, but how creative?
von Frisch: dish of sugar water placed on top of radio beacon, positioned hive underneath the dish. Bees who found the food did a round dance (nearby food source), but couldn't indicate verticality.
Duality of patterning
Can patterns be found both below (phonology) and above (morphology, syntax) the level of the sign (morpheme)?
Phonology: /k/, /æ/, /t/: /kæt/, /ækt/, /tæk/
Morphology: /(tæk kæt/, /kæt (tæk/
Animal communication systems appear to lack morphology or syntax (although bird songs can be analyzed as combinations of notes).
Structure-dependence
Is the system hierarchically organized?
Human language constituents: ambiguous phrases, coordination, pronominalization, structure-dependent rules (passivization, inversion in questions).
Hierarchical structure not found in animal communication systems (as far as we know).
Summary---design features
| |human languages |animal communication systems |
|only use vocal-auditory channel |no |no |
|arbitrariness of symbols |yes |some |
|cultural transmission |yes |to some extent |
|interchangeability |yes |yes |
|semanticity |yes |more limited |
|displacement |yes |not in most systems |
|creativity |yes |no |
|duality of patterning |yes |no |
|structure dependence |yes |no |
Chimp studies
Hypothesis: Maybe chimps don’t use human language because of lack of opportunity to learn it.
Chronology of studies
1931--Gua
1947---Viki
1966--Washoe
1966--Sarah
1974--Nim Chimsky
1977--Lana, Sherman, Austin (chimps). Kanzi (pygmy chimp)
1981--Koko, Michael (gorillas)
1983--Chantek (orangutan)
...
Washoe and friends can be viewed at CWU “Chimposiums”: (509) 963-2244 ($10)
Problems with some of the studies
Inherent bias of researchers
strong desire to believe in success of subjects
Clever Hans phenomenon
dressage: tested may pick up on unintended cues of testers
double-blind experiments
Summary of chimps' accomplishments
Can learn to associate referents with arbitrary signs
Can learn to use signs spontaneously
Can learn to use signs creatively
Washoe: 'water bird' (for swan)
Moja (chimp):
'listen drink' (for Alka seltzer in a glass)
'Metal hot' (for a cigarette lighter)
'metal cup drink coffee' (for a thermos bottle)
'dirty good' (for a potty chair)
Lucy:
'smell fruits' (for citrus fruits)
'cry fruit' or 'hurt fruit' (for radish)
'drink fruit' or 'candy fruit' (for watermelon)
Can invent totally new signs
Washoe invented a sign for 'bibs'
Lucy invented a sign for a leash used to walk her along a busy highway.
Can come up with creative solutions to problems.
Kanzi
When friend Austin the chimp was moved out of compound, Kanzi got lonely, typed 'Austin TV' to request videotape of Austin.
Limited acquisition of syntax (2-3 sign utterances)
Washoe: inconsistent word order
Sarah: comprehended commands like:
‘Sarah cracker candy yellow dish cracker blue pail insert':
[[Sarah] [[[cracker candy] [yellow dish]] [[cracker] [blue pail]]] insert]
Chimps vs. children
How do chimps’, children’s accomplishments compare? (Is chimp language creative, rule governed, as children's emerging language is?)
Similarities:
One-word, multi-word stages similar
Creativity (e.g. Washoe's 'water bird') in both systems
Differences:
Most advanced of chimps reported have syntactic and lexical skills most comparable to those of a 1-2-year old child.
Language evolution
How did language develop/evolve?
Did language evolve by accident or by adaptation?
Some features of humans (as compared to other hominoids):
walking on two feet, leaving hands free for tool use
increase in size and cognitive capacity of brain
changes in shape of vocal tract
Increase in brain size
The more complex the animal, the larger its brain.
The longer a species is on the planet, the bigger it gets.
Earliest hominoids, modern chimps: 400 cc
Modern human: 1360 cc
Why increase in brain size?
Hypothesis: greater intelligence needed to deal with social complexity.
Changes in shape of vocal tract
"Ontogeny [development] recapitulates phylogeny [history of species]".
Some features of vocal tract in newborn humans, other primates:
Larynx and epiglottis are higher. Therefore:
Airway is more efficient for breathing.
Larynx and epiglottis help create a tube from lungs to nose, permitting simultaneous breathing, eating. (Adult human vocal tract more hazardous for swallowing. Larynx must be pushed out of way by muscles of vocal tract.)
Why descent of larynx (if this leads to increased danger of choking, less efficient breathing?)
/i a u/: 2-tube vocal tract of adult humans can produce vowels
Language apparently of higher survival value to species than safe breathing.
Summary: Innateness?
Are humans genetically predisposed to learn language?
Language universals
can be identified
why do they exist? (processing limitations or procssing enhancement?)
Developmental evidence
universality and universal characteristics of first language acquisition
creolization
Neurolinguistic evidence
lateralization (hemispheric specialization)
Animal systems, accomplishments of chimps
Only human language exhibits creativity, duality of patterning, structure dependence
Evolutionary evidence
lowered larynx enhanced vocalization at expense of safe breathing
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