Animals vs. Human
Language
Language
“There is a language that goes beyond words”
Paulo Coelho
Paulo Coelho
Throughout life, many claims about the greatness and superiority of man over other animals have been proved. For centuries, science has
tried to unravel the 
mystery surrounding the human language: is it an exclusive gift for mankind?
In the recent decades, many scientists have dedicated their lives to research about this controversial topic, some supporting the belief that humans are the only animals capable of producing language, such as: Noam Chomsky, Ferdinand de Saussure, Charles Hockett, et al.; but on the other hand, we have those who claim that other animals are also capable of producing such language, even are able to understand human language, they are: Allen and Beatrice Gardner, David Premack, Duane Rumbaugh, etc.
To have a better understanding of these positions, we should first define what is that what they call language and how it differs from other forms of communication; but this is precisely from this point when the dispute between the two motions begins. From the point of view of the first position, language can be defined as a complex system composed of abstract symbols which aim to promote or reach communication. However, for the second view, language is seen as "an infinitely open system of communication"(Rumbaugh, 1977).
In the subsequent paragraphs there is a briefly explanation about which the characteristics of both views are.
All animals possess the appropriate physiological structure to articulate sounds in order to transmit certain messages. According to Karen McComb, a specialist of mammal communication, animals have the talent to manipulate humans to get what they want or need. McComb has done several experiments with her own cat Pepo, making her sure that cats, which have at least nineteen different meows, use their vocal ability to attract their master´s attention. “We believe that cats have learned to modulate their vocalizations dramatically, exaggerating the meows and purrs as they had been observing can generate a positive response in humans.” (McComb, K. 2009). Just as cats, other vertebrates have the innate capacity to manipulate their own mouth structure to produce different types of sounds in order to communicate their needs.
Humans, as the most evolved animals, have the same skill; How many times we have softened our tone of voice because we want our daddy to buy us that delicious candy or thickened our voice in order to pretend being someone else and make a joke by telephone?. The point here is not to show who is more manipulative, but to show that both, animals and humans, employ language to manage it at their convenience. However, the distinction between them is that, although both born with the physical structure, the only ones who transmit the knowledge of how to use language are mankind. People teach to their children about the language: words, meanings, grammar, syntax, etc. this is what Saussure calls Cultural Transmission. For individuals take a long time to speak or write; Trough interaction they develop language and teach it to others. Humans pass the language, animals not.
If we are more flexible and accept that language is not only verbal, apes tend to have a great possibility to be considered creators of language just as humans are, because for some unknown reason apes´ vocal chords are not skilled for speaking; Nevertheless they have another surprising faculty.
In 1970 at the Yerkes National Primate Research Center a female chimpanzee was born: Lana. According to the Yerkes Center, Lana´s name derives from LANguage Analogue project that consisting in a research to measure the chimpanzee´s capacity to develop language. This project was based on the creation of a keyboard with symbols on it, each symbol represented certain meaning; The keyboard was called: Lexigram. Lana was the first chimpanzee taught how to use the Lexigram. The outcome of the project surprised more than one since Lana demonstrated herself of being capable of understanding the symbols and associate them with new ideas. Her progress was more visible when she began to create novel utterances with grammatical sequence applied to her life, even she could understand her trainers´ language. On the other hand, the creator of the “Innatist Theory”, Noam Chosmky, says that language is something innate and unique of human beings, “trying to teach linguistic skills to animals is irracional, like trying to teach people to flap their arms and fly” […] “whatever the chimps are doing is not even homologous as far as we know” (Chomsky, N. 1995). Chomsky believes that just human brain has this Language Acquisition Device which is from here where humans have the skill of producing language.
Ferdinand de Saussure mentioned that other of the Properties of Language is the ability to produce new words, sentences, ideas, structures, with new meaning: Creativity/Productivity. Would Lana had this ability to produce new concepts and was able to give them new meanings?
In 1970 the Kewalo Basin Marine Mammal Laboratory (KBMML) was founded by the Dr. Louis Herman, who was interested in dolphin cognition and communication. Since its creation the KBMML has been researching about water mammals´ language; Its most known research about dolphin communication is Akeakamai´s project. In order to prove that animals are also able to produce and understand language, Louis Herman built a machine with gesture symbols which function was to ask Akeakamai, a female dolphin, about absent objects; The dolphin had the opportunity to press whether the “yes or no” button to report the absence or presence of those objects; Besides of being demonstrated that Akeakamai understood perfectly the relation between the symbols and the asked objects, was shown that she was competent to make an association of time. In other words, she could identify if the objects were missing or not.
Linguistics considers that Displacement, is the most important property that language has to have. Displacement makes reference to the faculty of making reference of things trough time and space, this means be able to mention the past and future, things that are not present in the moment. Our mother can tell us about her wedding day: how her wedding dress was, how the cake tasted, what was the scent of the flowers, how many guests were there, was she nervous or not?, etc. And we can imagine her story even without pictures. We can remember our first date of love, how the first kiss felt or imagine us traveling in Europe. Can Pepo, Lana or Akeakamai remember what happened to them one month ago or imagine where will they be in three years? Maybe their memory can be activated because of a smell, but nothing more than that.
Maybe the problem here is not that humans believe they are superior to other species, but we do not agree. Perhaps the concept of language is not well defined or we do not understand it; The confusion between language and communication might be what is causing the debate. It is important to differentiate between the two. In few words, we can say that communication is the exchange of information between s sender and a receiver, through this, ideas, emotions, thoughts, feeling, etc can be transmitted; on the other hand, language is a tool which leads to communication, not strictly spoken, because we have different types of language, such as: body language, by symbols, written, etc. What is for sure is that spoken language differs from animals to humans; Just as they can not use written words with our complex signs (morphemes), we can not meow or bark in order to communicate.
mystery surrounding the human language: is it an exclusive gift for mankind?In the recent decades, many scientists have dedicated their lives to research about this controversial topic, some supporting the belief that humans are the only animals capable of producing language, such as: Noam Chomsky, Ferdinand de Saussure, Charles Hockett, et al.; but on the other hand, we have those who claim that other animals are also capable of producing such language, even are able to understand human language, they are: Allen and Beatrice Gardner, David Premack, Duane Rumbaugh, etc.
To have a better understanding of these positions, we should first define what is that what they call language and how it differs from other forms of communication; but this is precisely from this point when the dispute between the two motions begins. From the point of view of the first position, language can be defined as a complex system composed of abstract symbols which aim to promote or reach communication. However, for the second view, language is seen as "an infinitely open system of communication"(Rumbaugh, 1977).
In the subsequent paragraphs there is a briefly explanation about which the characteristics of both views are.
All animals possess the appropriate physiological structure to articulate sounds in order to transmit certain messages. According to Karen McComb, a specialist of mammal communication, animals have the talent to manipulate humans to get what they want or need. McComb has done several experiments with her own cat Pepo, making her sure that cats, which have at least nineteen different meows, use their vocal ability to attract their master´s attention. “We believe that cats have learned to modulate their vocalizations dramatically, exaggerating the meows and purrs as they had been observing can generate a positive response in humans.” (McComb, K. 2009). Just as cats, other vertebrates have the innate capacity to manipulate their own mouth structure to produce different types of sounds in order to communicate their needs.
Humans, as the most evolved animals, have the same skill; How many times we have softened our tone of voice because we want our daddy to buy us that delicious candy or thickened our voice in order to pretend being someone else and make a joke by telephone?. The point here is not to show who is more manipulative, but to show that both, animals and humans, employ language to manage it at their convenience. However, the distinction between them is that, although both born with the physical structure, the only ones who transmit the knowledge of how to use language are mankind. People teach to their children about the language: words, meanings, grammar, syntax, etc. this is what Saussure calls Cultural Transmission. For individuals take a long time to speak or write; Trough interaction they develop language and teach it to others. Humans pass the language, animals not.
If we are more flexible and accept that language is not only verbal, apes tend to have a great possibility to be considered creators of language just as humans are, because for some unknown reason apes´ vocal chords are not skilled for speaking; Nevertheless they have another surprising faculty.
In 1970 at the Yerkes National Primate Research Center a female chimpanzee was born: Lana. According to the Yerkes Center, Lana´s name derives from LANguage Analogue project that consisting in a research to measure the chimpanzee´s capacity to develop language. This project was based on the creation of a keyboard with symbols on it, each symbol represented certain meaning; The keyboard was called: Lexigram. Lana was the first chimpanzee taught how to use the Lexigram. The outcome of the project surprised more than one since Lana demonstrated herself of being capable of understanding the symbols and associate them with new ideas. Her progress was more visible when she began to create novel utterances with grammatical sequence applied to her life, even she could understand her trainers´ language. On the other hand, the creator of the “Innatist Theory”, Noam Chosmky, says that language is something innate and unique of human beings, “trying to teach linguistic skills to animals is irracional, like trying to teach people to flap their arms and fly” […] “whatever the chimps are doing is not even homologous as far as we know” (Chomsky, N. 1995). Chomsky believes that just human brain has this Language Acquisition Device which is from here where humans have the skill of producing language.
Ferdinand de Saussure mentioned that other of the Properties of Language is the ability to produce new words, sentences, ideas, structures, with new meaning: Creativity/Productivity. Would Lana had this ability to produce new concepts and was able to give them new meanings?
In 1970 the Kewalo Basin Marine Mammal Laboratory (KBMML) was founded by the Dr. Louis Herman, who was interested in dolphin cognition and communication. Since its creation the KBMML has been researching about water mammals´ language; Its most known research about dolphin communication is Akeakamai´s project. In order to prove that animals are also able to produce and understand language, Louis Herman built a machine with gesture symbols which function was to ask Akeakamai, a female dolphin, about absent objects; The dolphin had the opportunity to press whether the “yes or no” button to report the absence or presence of those objects; Besides of being demonstrated that Akeakamai understood perfectly the relation between the symbols and the asked objects, was shown that she was competent to make an association of time. In other words, she could identify if the objects were missing or not.
Linguistics considers that Displacement, is the most important property that language has to have. Displacement makes reference to the faculty of making reference of things trough time and space, this means be able to mention the past and future, things that are not present in the moment. Our mother can tell us about her wedding day: how her wedding dress was, how the cake tasted, what was the scent of the flowers, how many guests were there, was she nervous or not?, etc. And we can imagine her story even without pictures. We can remember our first date of love, how the first kiss felt or imagine us traveling in Europe. Can Pepo, Lana or Akeakamai remember what happened to them one month ago or imagine where will they be in three years? Maybe their memory can be activated because of a smell, but nothing more than that.
Maybe the problem here is not that humans believe they are superior to other species, but we do not agree. Perhaps the concept of language is not well defined or we do not understand it; The confusion between language and communication might be what is causing the debate. It is important to differentiate between the two. In few words, we can say that communication is the exchange of information between s sender and a receiver, through this, ideas, emotions, thoughts, feeling, etc can be transmitted; on the other hand, language is a tool which leads to communication, not strictly spoken, because we have different types of language, such as: body language, by symbols, written, etc. What is for sure is that spoken language differs from animals to humans; Just as they can not use written words with our complex signs (morphemes), we can not meow or bark in order to communicate.
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