Lecture 2 - animal communication vs human language Flashcards
Do animals have communication systems? And are they intentional?
dancing bees, chirping birds
- > send messages
- > signal danger or the location of a food source
these signals are fixed from birth
number of signals that can be conveyed is finite
-> animals communicate by systems qualitatively different from human language systems
Name the special properties (distinguishing features) of human language
1) reflexivity
2) displacement
3) arbitrariness
4) productivity
5) cultural transmission
6) duality (double articulation)
7) recursion
Describe reflexivity (animal vs human)
humans are able to reflect on language and its uses
-> use language to think and talk about language itself
e.g.
dog can’t communicate: “Don’t bark so loudly!”
we can say: “I wish he wouldn’t use so many technical terms.”
Describe displacement (animal vs human)
Animal communication is designed exclusively for the moment, here and now; cannot be used to relate events that are removed in time or place
-> dog barks when its hungry or angry in the present moment
Humans can refer to the past and the future; property of displacement allows to talk about things and events not present in the immediate moment or non-existent
-> future or past events, Santa Claus, fairies, …
Exception: Bees can communicate a location if they have found a new source through dance (near, far away and how far)
Describe arbitrariness (animal vs human)
the linguistic signifier has no natural or “iconic” relationship with the signified
-> no connection between a linguistic form and its meaning
for the majority of animal signals there does appear to be a clear connection between the conveyed message and the signal used to convey it
- > non arbitrary
- > set of signals used in animal communication is finite
Describe productivity (animal vs human)
humans can create new expressions and novel utterances by manipulating their linguistic resources to describe new objects and situations
-> the potential number of utterances in any human language is infinite
animals have fixed references relating to a particular object or occasion and cannot produce new signals to communicate novel experiences
-> cicadas have four signals to choose from, a vervet monkey has thirty six vocal calls; bee dance, …
Describe cultural transmission (animal vs human)
Most of language is passed on from one generation/social group(local community to another -> acquired in a culture and not from parental genes
Humans are not born with the ability to produce utterance s in a specific language, but we are born with a predisposition to acquire language in a general sense
Animals are born with a set of specific signals that are produced instinctively
Describe duality (animal vs human)
two levels in language:
1) producing sequential/individual sounds/sound strings
2) producing meaning by combining elements
- > e.g.: i, b, n -> bin, nib
- > thus a very large number of sound combinations (words) with a distinct meaning can be produced with a limited set of discrete sounds
animals have sequences that might have a fixed meaning, but which cannot be broken up or rearranged
-> woof cannot be rearranged to f+oo+w
Describe recursion/embedding (animal vs human)
In human language we can endlessly embed statements into other statements (subordinate clauses, hypotaxis)
e.g. You are a fool I think you are a fool You think that I think that you are a fool ...
Talk about the different Chimpanzee research that has been done
Primates communicate with each other in elaborate ways (signal danger, aggressiveness, subordination etc. in various ways)
Attempts to teach chimpanzees more complex language systems:
- Winthrop and Luella Kellogg (Gua)
- Keith and Cathy Hayes (Viki)
- Washoe
- Sarah
- Duane and Sue Rumbaugh (Lana, Sherman, Austin, Kanzi)
- Nim Chimpsky
-> Apes cannot produce human sounds, their physiognomy doesn’t allow it (lips, teeth, larynx)
Describe the research done with the chimpanzee Gua
- Winthrop and Luella Kellogg
- 1930s
- raised the chimpanzee together with their baby son
- understood 100 words, but count say one of them
Describe the research done with the chimpanzee Viki
- Keith and Cathy Hayes
- 1940
- raised Viki as if she were a human child
- was able to say a few words poorly (mama, papa, cup,…)
Describe the research done with the chimpanzee Washoe
- Beatrix and Allen Gardner
- believed chimpanzees could be taught sign language
- taught her ASL for 5 years and raised her like surrogate child (not in a lab)
- knew 350 different signs and used more than a 100 by the time he was 4
- knew sign combinations (more fruit/you drink)
- could combine signs to create new concepts (swan -> water bird, Thermos -> metal drink cup, open food drink -> fridge)
Describe the research done with Sarah
- Ann and David Premark
- was tarnend non-iconic, arbitrary symbols on colored plastic chips (e.g. small red square for banana)
- kept in a cage
- food rewards for correct answers
- spontaneous talking not allowed
Describe the research done with Kanzi
- Duane and Sue Rumbaugh
- Yerkes Regional Primate Research Center
- 1973
- 4 apes: Lana, Sherman, Austin, Kanzi
- taught artificial language called Yerkish (lexigrams on a computer keyboard)
- Matata did badly, her adopted baby Kanzi started using the system with ease
- over 250 forms
- at 8 he could use language like a 2,5 yo human, but mostly fixed phrases
