Communication and Language, Part 1: The Birds and the Bees

September 12, 2012

Heads up!

• Two readings (for next week) have been posted to the course website.

1.

For next Monday: Steven Pinker on “The Language Mavens”, from his book, “The Language Instinct”.

2.

For next Wednesday: Ray Jackendoff on “Knowledge of Language”.

Quick Write #1

• In this class, we have native speakers of: English Punjabi Vietnamese 4 Spanish 3 Arabic Cantonese 57 4 3 2 Japanese Russian Teo Chew 2 2 2 Turkish “Chinese” Dinka Farsi Filipino Igbo Mandarin Silozi Tagalog 1 1 1 1 2 1 1 1 1

Quick Write #1

• And people have studied the following non-native languages: French 39 Arabic 1 Latin English Spanish 27 13 “Chinese” Dutch 1 1 1 Jamaican Creole 1 German 4 Hungarian 1 “Pidjin” 1 Japanese 4 Ilocano 1 Tagalog 1 Cantonese 3 Italian 1 Vietnamese 1 Mandarin Hindi 3 2 Japanese Korean 1 1

In Our Last Episode

• Linguistics is the scientific study of language.

• Linguists have learned that language is: 1. Biological 2. Complex • 3. Creative What else do we know about language?

Linguists know (part 4):

• Language is social.

• Language can be arbitrary.

• Every language varies according to region, speaker identity, and situation.

• Language can define communities.

• Language can shape identity.

Linguists know (part 5):

• Every language undergoes change.

• Languages are, in fact, changing all the time.

• Ex: the great vowel shift • Present-day: the Great Lakes vowel shift • and a Canadian vowel shift!

• Languages evolve in reliable ways.

• Languages can be related to one another.

• Languages can die.

• New languages can be born.

This Course Explores...

• The complex nature of human language from both biological and social perspectives.

• What is “knowledge of language”?

• How is language used for communication?

• How do we know that language is uniquely human?

• How does human language differ from other animals’ systems of communication?

• How can language be creative?

• What are the universal properties of language?

The Structures of Language

• The majority of this class will be devoted to learning how to analyze and understand the structures of language.

• Word structure: Morphology • What are the units of meaning in language?

• How are words formed in language?

• Sound structure #1: Phonetics • What sounds are used in speech?

• How do we make those sounds? (with our lips, jaws, tongues, vocal folds, etc.) • What’s the best way to write down what a person has actually said?

The Structures of Language

• Sound structure #2: Phonology • How are sounds related to one another in language?

• What distinguishes one sound from another?

• What rules do languages use to put sounds together into words?

• Sentence structure: Syntax • How does language combine words into sentences?

• How do sentences relate to one another?

• How do the rules of word order differ from one language to another?

The Structures of Language

• Meaning structure: Semantics • How do words relate to/represent the world?

• How do we know what words mean?

• How do we know what a sentence means?

• Conversation structure: Pragmatics • What “maxims” do people follow in conversations?

• How can they violate those maxims?

• How do we get meaning out of context?

• What do people “read into” what you say?

What’s the big idea?

• Language is biological.

• Language is a unique property of the human species.

• All people have language.

• It’s part of our genetic endowment.

• We’re neurologically specialized for it.

• No other species of animal has language.

• But: dogs bark, cats purr, pigs oink, crows caw… • How is that not language?

Language vs. Communication

• Human beings can use language for communication.

• Animals communicate with each other without using language.

• Point: it’s not the ability to communicate that makes humans unique, it’s the ability to use language.

• “No matter how eloquently a dog may bark, he cannot tell you that his parents were poor, but honest.” --Bertrand Russell

More Deep Thoughts

“It is not the want of organs that [prevents animals from making] known their thoughts...for it is evident that magpies and parrots are able to utter words just like ourselves, and yet they cannot speak as we do, that is, so as to give evidence that they think of what they say...

On the other hand, men who, being born deaf and dumb, are in the same degree, or even more than the brutes, destitute of the organs which serve the others for talking, are in the habit of themselves inventing certain signs by which they make themselves understood.” - René Descartes (1637)

Questions

1.

What’s the difference between language and communication?

2.

How do we know that animals don’t have language?

3. Can animals acquire language if we try to teach it to them?

“Design Features” of Language

• Defined by the linguist Charles Hockett (1916-2000) From a 1966 article: “The design features listed below are found in every language on which we have reliable information, and each seems to be lacking in at least one known animal communicative system.”

“Design Features” of Language

• All communication systems have the following features: 1. A

mode of communication

(a medium) • • • • Audio-visual for most humans Visual-spatial for sign language users Chemical-olfactory for some plants and animals Electric current for telephones, computers, etc.

2.

Semanticity

• Communication signals have meaning

“Design Features” of Language

• Some communication systems have the following features: 3.

Interchangeability

• Participants can be transmitters and receivers.

4.

Cultural Transmission

• System gets passed along through interaction with users of the system.

• “Tradition” •

IMPORTANT

: People are not genetically pre-disposed to learn a particular language.

Cultural Transmission in Birds

The Ortolan Bunting (found in Germany) exhibits various regional song dialects.

http://www.bavarianbirds.de/ortolan/ortolan.htm

“Design Features” of Language

5.

Arbitrariness

– No logical relationship between signals (signs) and what they represent (their meaning) Sign “tree” “Baum” “arbre” Meaning

Iconicity

• Arbitrary signs may be contrasted with

iconic

signs • …which bear some resemblance to whatever it is that they signify.

• Examples: • Note: sign languages tend to be highly iconic • although they can display abritrariness, too.

“Design Features” of Language

Onomatopoeia

: iconic language signals Signal Form English “cock-a-doodle-doo” French “cocorico” Mandarin “kukuku” Meaning Note: still an element of arbitrariness in signal form

“Design Features” of Language

6.

Discreteness

: messages can be built up out of smaller parts “Human beings have language.” human beings have language being -s [h] [æ] [v]

“Design Features” of Language

6.

Discreteness

: messages can be built up out of smaller parts “Alien beings have language.” alien beings have language being -s [h] [æ] [v]

“Design Features” of Language

6.

Discreteness

: messages can be built up out of smaller parts “Alien beings have spaceships.” alien beings have spaceships being -s [h] [æ] [v]

“Design Features” of Language

• The following features are crucial properties of human language: 7.

Displacement

• The ability to communicate about things that are not present in space and time.

8.

Productivity (Creativity)

• The ability to produce and understand messages that have never been expressed before.

• New expressions, with new meanings, are constantly coming into existence.

“Design Features” of Language

9. Another crucial feature:

Duality of Patterning

(1) A large number of meaningful messages are made up of (2) a small number of meaningless elements For example: meaningful: “have” meaningless: [h] [æ] [v]

“Design Features” of Language

10.

Prevarication

• Messages can be false, deceptive or meaningless 11.

Reflexiveness

• In language, one can communicate about communication.

12.

Learnability

• A speaker of a language can learn another language.

Sound files from: http://www.wjh.harvard.edu/~mnkylab/media/vervetcalls.html

Animal Communication Systems

• Vervet Monkeys -specific calls for specific predators loud bark = “leopard”  get into a tree interrupted snort = “eagle”  take cover under a bush whirring noise = “snake”  look at the grass

The Bees

• Honeybees have one of the most complex systems of communication found in the animal world.

• They “dance” to indicate the presence of food sources in the vicinity of their hives.

• The dances take one of three forms: • 1. Round Dance • For food sources up to 20 feet away.

• Intensity indicates quality of source.

The Bees, part 2

2. The Sickle Dance • Food source from 20 to 60 feet away.

• Intensity indicates quality of source.

• Angle with vertical represents angle of source with respect to sun.

The Bees, part 3

• The Tail-Wagging Dance • For food sources more than 60 feet away.

• Also indicates quality and direction • Slower rate of repetition = longer distance

What About Dolphins?

• Many people consider dolphins to be highly intelligent.

• Easily trainable • Proportionally large brain mass • Q: How much can they communicate with each other?

• They use clicks for sonar… • Squawks and whistles signal emotional states.

• Bastian (1971) tested dolphins’ communication abilities in a clever experiment…

The Dolphin Experiment

• A male dolphin and a female dolphin were placed in separate tanks.

• Each tank was equipped with two different paddles that the dolphins could push.

• And an intercom system… • Female dolphin was shown either a flashing light or a continuous light (which the male couldn’t see).

• Female was supposed to: • Push the right paddle for continuous light • Push the left paddle for flashing light • And tell the male dolphin to do the same…

The Dolphin Experiment

• If both male and female dolphins pushed the correct paddles… • They both got a fish!

• What happened?

• At first it looked like the dolphins were communicating.

• But then the researchers tried the same experiment: • when the male could see the lights, too • and also without the male in other tank.

• The female kept making the same calls.

• Conclusion: she wasn’t trying to communicate… • She just wanted to get the fish.

Clever Hans

• One consistent problem with animal communication research is that there is often a temptation to overstate the animals’ abilities.

• A classic example: Clever Hans.

• Clever Hans was a horse who lived in Germany around 1900… • And was taught to answer math questions by tapping his foot.

The Clever Hans Effect

• Clever Hans was eventually subjected to scientific scrutiny.

• Finding #1: Hans had more difficulty when he couldn’t see the person asking the question.

• Finding #2: He also had difficulty when the questioner did not know the answer to the question.

• His accuracy dropped from 89% to 0% correct.

• Conclusion: the questioners were (subconsciously) tipping the horse off.

• Hans was just very talented at reading their change in posture when he made the right number of taps.

Alex the Parrot

• Another celebrated animal--from recent times--is Alex, the grey parrot.

• Alex was said to know 100+ words, • could answer different questions about the same object • and make categorical distinctions.

• Check out a video: • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R6KvPN_Wt8I • Q: Had Alex acquired language?

Conclusions (for now)

• Animals are capable of lots of amazing things… • but language is not one of them.

• Animals’ native systems of communication do not exhibit all of the design features of human language. In particular: • Displacement • Creativity • Duality of patterning • Attempts to teach language to (non-primate) animals have met with little success.

• However, teaching language to primates has yielded some intriguing (and controversial) results…