1 Introduction to linguistics

Handout 2

The properties of language

I. Communicative vs. informative signalsCANNOTCONTROLTHEM

a) blushing b) winking c) blinking

d) sneezing
IFwe
e) yawning in the middle of a lecture DEPENDSHowi area
HideourmouthBecausewe
informative
irweDontrinseourmouthrsem.us
wanttosnowweareBorers
f) looking away from an acquaintance who seems to have noticed you wecommunicative

II. Unique properties of human language

1. Displacement
the ability to talk about things remote in time and space
- talking about a friend when he is not with us; about a class we had last year, or the class
we will take next year; about unicorns, demons and fairies

Honeybees and displacementAFTERLOCATINGCOMMUNICATE ASOURCEOFFOOD THEFORAGINGBEERETURNS

TOhive, 20 feet /6 metres/ TO
a) round dance (locations near the
THEwithin
HIVETO OTHERMEMBERSOFACOLONY
or so)
b) sickle dance (locations at an intermediate distance from the hive, approx. 20-60 feet /6-
18 metres/)
c) tail-wagging dance (distances that exceed 60 feet or so)
- the distance of the food source from the hive (a, b & c)
- the quality of the food source → the number of repetitions of the basic pattern and
the vivacity with which a bee performs the dance (a, b & c)
- the direction → the angle made by the direction of the open end of the sickle with the
vertical is the same angle as the food source is from the sun (b & c)
- the precise distance → the slower the repetition rate, the longer the distance (c)

When the food and sun are in the same

direction, the straight portion of the waggle
dance is directed upward. When the food is
at some angle to the right (blue) or left
(red) of the sun, the bee orients the straight
portion of her dance at the same angle to
the right or left of the vertical.
The round dance The tail wagging dance
 2 Introduction to linguistics
Handout 2

2. arbitrariness
no ‘natural’ connection between a linguistic form and its meaning
- the concept → ‘house’ (English), ‘maison’ (French), ‘dom’ (Polish), ‘casa’ (Spanish)
- the inner core of a plum → ‘stone’ or ‘pit’
• onomatopoeia
- noise-words: bow-wow, splat, swish, cock-a-doodle-doo
- derivatives of noise-words: cuckoo, babble, burble

Animals and arbitrariness

- a clear connection between the message conveyed and the signal used to convey it
- a finite set of signals
- used in specific situations (e.g. establishing territory) and at particular times (e.g.
during the mating season)
• a dog baring its teeth to indicate it is ready to attack

3. productivity/ creativity/ open-endedness

the ability to create new expressions and novel utterance by manipulating linguistic
resources
- fixed reference in animal communication systems
- open-ended vs. closed communication systems

Honeybees and productivity

Experiment: placing a beehive at the foot of a radio tower and a food source at the top

Vervet monkeys and productivity (36 vocal calls)

- danger signals: CHUTTER (snake) and RRAUP (eagle)

- a danger signal for a flying snake?

4. cultural transmission
the process whereby a language is passed on from one generation to the next
- an infant born to Korean parents, adopted and brought up by English speakers in the US
- infants growing up in isolation
- animals are born with a set of specific signals that are produced instinctively

Birds and cultural transmission

- instinct has to combine with learning
- songbirds reared in acoustic isolation

5. duality Humanlanguageisorganisedattwolevelssimultaneously
- the level of distinct sounds: (1) t, p, i; (2) t, c, a; (3) b, t, a
- the level of distinct meanings: (1) tip, pit; (2) act, cat; (3) bat, tab
 3 Introduction to linguistics
Handout 2

Animals and human communication

I. Understanding human language

Clever Hans - a “talking” horse
- answering arithmetical questions and tapping out the letters of the alphabet
- “the Clever Hans phenomenon”

II. Teaching apes to use human language. A short history of experiments.

Years Experimenters’ Apes’ names Languages, techniques Successes?

names
1930s L. & W. Gua (an infant - spoken English; - reported to understand about a
Kellogg chimpanzee) - raised at home with the hundred words
Kelloggs’ infant son - unable to ‘say’ them
- unable to understand sentences

Gua and the Kelloggs’ infant son, Donald, Donald and Gua eating with a spoon
ready for bed

1940s C. & K. Hayes Viki - raised at home (like a - poorly articulated versions of mama, papa &
(chimp) human child) cup
- shaping her mouth to get
her to say English words
from B. & A. Washoe - American Sign Language - using signs for more than a hundred words
1966 Gardner (chimp) (ASL) ranging from airplane, baby and banana
- raised at home like a through to window, woman and you
- producing ‘sentences’ open food drink,
human child
gimme tickle
- inventing new signs
- able to understand more signs than producing
- capable of holding rudimentary conversations

Washoe Lana
 4 Introduction to linguistics
Handout 2

1960s A. & D. Sarah (chimp) - a set of plastic shapes - capable of producing ‘sentences’:
Premack (‘words’) which could be Mary give chocolate Sarah
arranged in sequence - able to understand complex
structures: If Sarah put red on green,
- systematically trained to
Mary give Sarah chocolate
associate the shapes wit
objects and actions
- a cage animal, trained
with food rewards
from D. Rumbaugh Lana (chimp) - Yerkish: a set of symbols - an ability to use ‘logographic codes’
1973 on a large keyboard basic structures: please machine give
linked to a computer water
- a training technique
similar to Sarah’s

A lexigram board

from H. Terrace Nim - ASL - a large number of single word signs

1973 Chimpsky - under controlled - two-word combinations: more drink
(chimp) conditions (careful records or give banana
- longer utterances a repetition of
and video-taping)
simpler structures
S. Savage- Matata, Kanzi - Yerkish - a large symbol vocabulary (over 250
Rumbaugh (bonobos) forms)
- capable to understand spoken
English at a level comparable to a
2.5 year old human child

Dr Sue Savage-Rumbaugh and Kanzi

 5 Introduction to linguistics
Handout 2

IV. Talking to Koko the gorilla

Koko’s factfile:
- born in 1971 (the experiment
started in 1972), died in 2018
- an estimated IQ of between 75
and 90 on a human scale
- raised kittens on her own
- enjoyed painting
- liked people who bring food and
drinks
- used ASL
- initiated the majority of conversations with humans
- typically constructed statements averaging 3-6 words
- could understand ca. 2000 words of spoken English
- reported to have had a working vocabulary of over 500
signs and to have emitted 400 more
- sentences, jokes and metaphors

Some sign combinations produced by Koko:

- FRUIT LOLLIPOP frozen banana

- PICK FACE tweezers
- FINGER BRACELET ring
- UPPER-FAKE TOOTH people with fillings or caps on their teeth

Koko was asked about death

several times, especially when
her kitten, All Ball, was killed by
a car.

The following conversations

were published in The Gorilla
Foundation's biannual
publication, Gorilla.
Koko signs ‘eat’
Koko signs ‘love’

Gorilla, Volume 8, Number 1, from December, 1984.

One day Koko was having a conversation with Research Assistant Maureen Sheehan.
MS: Where do gorillas go when they die?
Koko: Comfortable hole bye.
MS: When do gorillas die?
K: Trouble, old.
MS: How do gorillas feel when they die, happy, sad, afraid?
K: Sleep.

Gorilla, Volume 8, Number 2.

December 18, 1984, three days after All Ball had been killed, with Dr Penny Patterson:
PP: Do you want to talk about your kitty?
K: Cry.
PP: What happened to your kitty?
K: Sleep cat.
PP: Yes, he's sleeping.
K: Koko good.