Linguistics Yule Chapter 2 COMMUNICATION Communicative Signals behavior used intentionally to provide information Informative Signals behavior that provides information usually unintentionally PROPERTIES OF HUMAN LANGUAGE Communication is not a distinguishing feature of human language Humans are the only ones to be able to reflect on language and its uses Reflexivity special property of human language that allows us to use language to think and talk about language Without this we wouldn t be able to reflect on or identify any of the other distinctive properties of human language DISPLACEMENT Humans can refer to past and future Animal communication seems to be designed specifically for the moment it s in use Displacement allows language users to talk about things and events not present in the immediate environment as well as things we re not even sure exist Bees small exception tail wagging dance ARBITRARINESS No natural connection between a linguistic form and its meaning Arbitrariness property of language describing the fact that there is no natural connection between a linguistic form and its meaning Some words in language with sounds that seem to echo the sounds of objects or activities and hence seem to have a less arbitrary connection onomatopoeia For any animal the set of signals used in communication is finite Fixed and limited set of vocal or gestural forms PRODUCTIVITY Productivity the potential number of utterances in any human language is infinite Other creatures communication systems are not like ours Cicadas four signals vervet monkeys 36 vocal calls Even the bees have a fixed set of signals for communicating location and they all relate to horizontal distance not vertical they have no word for up and can t invent one Fixed reference limited animal communication each signal in the system is fixed as relating to a particular object or occasion Humans however are capable of creating a new signal for things CULTURAL TRANSMISSION Animals are not like this We acquire language from our culture with other speakers not from our parental genes Cultural transmission the process whereby a language is passed on from one generation to the next We are born with some kind of innate predisposition to acquire language however we are not born with the ability to produce any one specific language such as English Animals are born with a certain set of specific signals that are produced instinctively even if not around other birds to hear their songs they will produce songs or calls on their own Humans NEED cultural transmission of a certain language DUALITY Duality a property of language whereby linguistic forms have two simultaneous levels of sound production and meaning double articulation Physical level that we can actually produce individual sounds distinct sounds In another level we combine individual letters to make words distinct meanings Among animals each communicative signal appears to be a single fixed form that cannot be broken down into separate parts TALKING TO ANIMALS Standard explanation is that animals produce a particular behavior in response to a particular sound stimulus or noise but does not actually understand what the words in the noise mean Animals typically will not acquire human language CHIMPANZEES AND LANGUAGE Luella and Winthrop Kellogg raised a chimp and a baby at the same time as an experiment Gua Chimp was able to understand about 100 words but didn t SAY any of them Catherine and Keith Hayes raised Viki as a human child Viki eventually managed to learn to produce some words poor versions of mama papa and cup Apes chimps don t have a physically structured vocal tract suitable for articulating speech sounds communicate with a wide range of vocal calls but can t make human speech sounds WASHOE Beatrix and Allen Gardener teach a female chimp Washoe to use Sign Language Raised like a human child in a domestic environment Sign language always used when Washoe was around She was encouraged to use signs Over 3 years over a hundred signs for words Combined the words to produce sentences of the type more fruit open food drink Some forms were invented by Washoe Also understood more signs than she produced and could hold rudimentary conversations Question answer sentences SARAH AND LANA Ann and David Premack chimp learning to use a set of plastic shapes for the purpose of communicating with humans Shapes represented words that could be arranged into sentences Trained to associate the shapes with specific objects or actions Remained as an animal in a cage being rewarded with food when manipulating a set of words Once she learned the words she could get things she wanted by selecting the correct shape from a large array The shapes were arbitrary to what they were connected with Sarah could also produce sentences and had the impressive capacity to understand complex structures Duane Rumbaugh trained chimp Lana to use a keyboard with symbols that was linked to a computer When Lana wanted something she had to push the correct symbols in the correct order to receive it Both chimps seem to use what look like word symbols and basic structures in ways that slightly resemble the use of language THE CONTROVERSY Herbert Terrace argued that chimpanzees simply produce signs in response to the demands of people and tend to repeat signs those people use yet treated like they re having a conversation Chimpanzee behavior viewed as a type of conditioned response to cues provided by human trainers Chimps are clever creatures who learn to produce a certain type of behavior in order to get rewards and are essentially performing tricks Gardeners argued that they weren t animal trainers nor were they inculcating and then eliciting conditioned responses from Washoe In a complex experiment designed to eliminate possible human cues Washoe could still sign correctly Reported that often younger chimps not only learned sign language but would use signs with each other and Washoe even when there were no humans present KANZI Sue Savage Rumbaugh was training a chimp Matata to use Yerkish symbols but her baby Kanzi was always with her Matata didn t do well but Kanzi spontaneously began using the symbol system easily not by being taught but by being exposed to observing the language at a very young age Kanzi eventually developed over 250 forms for words and by the age of 8 was able to demonstrate understanding of spoken English at a level comparable to a two and a half year old human child He also