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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