ANIMALS &
HUMAN
LANGUAGE
SUBMITTED BY :-SARA AHMED KAMIL
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SUPERVISED BY :- JENAN AL SHAIBANI
THIRD YEAR
SECTION B
MORNING STUDY
§ There are a lot of stories about creatures that can talk. We
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usually assume that they are fantasy or fiction or that they
involve birds or animals simply imitating something they have
heard humans say.
§ Human Language has some properties that make it different
from animal communication system. Animals cannot
understand human language, so it is less likely they can
produce human language. Gua, a chimp’s baby is raised with a
human baby. He could understand 100 words but did not say
any of them.Viki is another chimps raised by a scientist
couple. He has been trained for 5 years by trying to shape his
mouth to produce sounds. Viki managed to produce some
poorly articulated words.
§ Animal languages are forms of non-human animal communication
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that show similarities to human language .
§ Animals communicate by using a variety of signs such as sounds
or movements. Such signing may be considered complex enough
to be called a form of language if the inventory of signs is large ,
the signs are relatively arbitrary,and the animals seem to
produce them with a degree of volition (as opposed to relatively
automatic conditioned behaviours or unconditioned
instincts,usually including facial expressions).
§ In experimental tests , animal communication may also be
evidenced through the use of lexigrams (as used by
chimpanzees and bonobos ). while the term "animal language "
is widely used, researchers agree that animal languages are
not as complex or expressive as human language
The following properties of human language have been argued to
separate it from animal communication:
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1- Reflexivity• Reflexivity is the property that enables humans to
use language to think and talk about language itself and does not
appear to be present in any other creature’s communication
system. I went to the bank.
2- Displacement• It allows language users to talk about things
and events not present in the immediate environment. It allows
us to talk about things and places (e.g. angels, fairies, Santa
Claus, Superman, heaven, hell) whose existence we cannot even
be sure of.
3- Arbitrariness• There is no ‘natural’ connection between a
linguistic form and its meaning. For example, there is no actual
relation between the word ‘bread’ and its meaning.• In the
majority of animal signals, there does appear to be a clear
connection between the conveyed message and the signal used
to convey it. This impression we have of the non- arbitrariness
of animal signaling may be closely connected to the fact that, for
any animal, the set of signals used in communication is finite.
§ 4- Productivity• Humans are continually creating new
expressions
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resources to describe new objects and situations.
§ 5- Cultural Transmission
§ • The process whereby a language is passed on from one
generation to the next is described as cultural transmission. We
acquire language in a culture with other speakers.
§ • Human is born with some kind of predisposition to acquire a
language but (a culture) is needed to activate this ability.
§ 6- Duality• Language is organized at two levels: or layers:a\
Physical level: It is the ability to produce individual sounds. / b,
d, a/.b\ Meaning level: It refers to the ability to combine the
individual sounds into meaningful unit. Bad-dad-ad-abd.-etc.
Human Language Vs. Animal Communication
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Human language Animal communication
§ DUALITY:Distinctive sounds, called § DUALITY:Other animals do not
phonemes, are arbitrary and have no meaning. communicate by arranging arbitrary sounds,
But humans can string these sounds in an
which limits the number of messages they
infinite number of ways to create meaning via
can create.
words and sentences.
§ CREATIVITY:New words can be invented § CREATIVITY:Animals have to evolve in
easily. order for their signs to change.
§ DISPLACEMENT:Humans can talk about § DISPLACEMENT:Animal
remote, abstract, or imaginary things that communication is context driven—they react
aren't happening in their immediate
to stimuli, or indexes.
environments. Animal communication is
context driven—they react to stimuli, or
§ INTERCHANGEABILITY:Certain
indexes.
animal communications in the animal world
§ INTERCHANGEABILITY:Any can only be used by one gender of that
gender of human can use the same animal.
languages.
HUMAN ANIMALS
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§ BIOLOGY:On a purely § BIOLOGY: Other animals
biological level, the human have different biological
voice box and tongue are very structures, which impact
unique, and are required to they way they make
make the sounds we recognize sounds.
as language. § AMBIGUITY:Every sign
§ AMBIGUITY:A word, or sign, has only one meaning.
can have several meanings. § VARIETY:Animals only
have a limited number of
§ VARIETY:Human language can
combinations they can use
arrange words into an infinite
to communicate.
number of ideas, sometimes
referred to as discrete infinity.
REFERENCES
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https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Israa_A
bdurrahman/publication/332511191_Animals
_and_Human_Language/links/5cb890dd458
5156cd7a24889/Animals-and-Human-
Language.pdf?origin=publication_detail
§ https://owlcation.com/stem/The-difference-between-animal-and-
human-communication
§ https://owlcation.com/stem/
