Animal communication & human language
Group 3
Hồ Thị Phương Dung
Lương Thị Thanh Lan
Huỳnh Thị Tuyết Phượng
Nguyễn Kim Hưng
Nguyễn Tiến Dũng
Introduction to Linguistics
Intructor
MA. Lê Minh Hà
CHAPTER 3:
ANIMAL COMMUNICATION
AND HUMAN LANGUAGE
Content
1. How do animals communicate?
VISUAL COMMUNICATION

Peacock mating dance
AUDITORY COMMUNICATION

Whale sings to communicate
TACTILE COMMUNICATION
Baboon touch and groom each other
Bee dance to show a food location
+ Animal possess (have) some SIGNALING communication system


Animal communication
human language
+ Signals are fixed ,only express 1 meaning
=> Animal do not express anything beside a LIMITED range of meanings
Ex : Bee cannot tell a food source’s good/bad
1 experiment : A bee was forced to walk to the food source => it show wrong distance

=> Animal cannot communicate in special conditions => unable to creative
A parrot try to imitate human voice


Animal communication
human language
II) + Animal can imitate human voice => it does not mean they have language
Ex : some talking birds say “Hello”/”Goodbye” without understanding meanings
=> have no meaning
+ Animal cannot analyze their imitating sound
Ex : They cannot form the plural/new sentence
Only say what it is taught or what it hears and no more


Animal communication
human language
+ Animal can produce humanlike sound , but it they cannot learn it .
Human can think complicatedly and abstractly because they have language.
The animals are not blessed perfect language as human have.

=> We cannot underestimate animal’s intelligence .
Animal communication
Vs. human language
Similarity:  Both are composed of SIGNS (forms with meaning)
Ex : Spiders have an elaborate system of courtship gestures
Animal communication
Vs. human language
For animals, the form of the signal may be visual, auditory, olfactory, but each animal system differs from all human languages in six key way.
Animal: The signs of animal systems are inborn.
Human:  The capacity to be creative with signs is inborn, but the signs (words) themselves are acquired culturally.
Animal communication
Vs. human language
Animal communication
Vs. human language
2) Animal: Communication is set responses to stimuli (indexes).
Human: Not limited to use as an index.     

3) Animal: Each sign has one and only one function; each meaning can be expressed only in one way
Human: Signs often have multiple functions; one meaning can be expresses in many ways
Animal communication
Vs. human language
4) Animal: Not naturally used in novel way
    Human: Creative, can be adapted to new situations

5) Animal: Closed inventory of signs; only a set number of different messages can be sent
Human: Open ended.  Grammar (rules of syntax) allows a virtually unlimited number of messages to be constructed
Animal communication
Vs. human language
6) Animal: Change extremely slowly, with the speed of genetic evolution.

Human: Change rapidly as a cultural phenomenon.
Animal communication
Vs. human language
Animal communication
Vs. human language
Content