Animals and human language

The study of Language by George Yule (2006)

New words
Communicative signals: behavior used intentionally to provide information
Informative signals: behavior that provides information, usually unintentionally
Displacement: a property of language that allows users to talk about things and events not present in the immediate environment
Arbitrariness: a property of language describing the fact that there is no natural connection between a linguistic form and its meaning
Productivity: a property of language that allows users to create new expressopns, also called ‘creativity’ or ‘open-endedness’
Fixed reference: property of communication system whereby each signal is fixed as relating to one particular object or occasion
Cultural transmission: the process whereby knowledge of a language is passed from one generation to the next
Duality: a property of language whereby linguistic forms have two simultaneous levels of sound production and meaning, also called ‘double articulation’

Study questions
1 An infant born to Korean parents in Korea but adopted and brought up from birth by English speakers will have physical characteristics inherited from its natural parents, but will inevitably speak English. This can be used to support idea that language is culturally transmitted.
2 Only humans have a communication system with productivity which can create new expressions flexibly. On the other hand, the system with fixed reference is an animal communication system. Each signal in the system is fixed as relating to a particular object or occasion.
3 The property of displacement enables people to talk about ‘the future'.
4 The Gardeners tried to show that a female chimpanzee called Washoe was not simply repeating signs made by interacting humans. Washoe could produce correct signs to identify objects in pictures.
5 Sarah seems to have arbitrariness if she could use a gray plastic shapes to convey the meaning of the word red.
6 Early exposure to language in use was considered to be the key element in Kanji’s language learning.