ANTH 1290.

2:

Introduction to Human Communication

Week 2 Communication & Language Compared Everett, Dont Sleep, There Are Snakes: The Pirah

Communication in relation to Language

Communication

Language

Communication
Definition: Behavior that affects others behavior by transmission of information
Whose behavior? What kind of information? Examples?

Communication
(Non-human) Animal

Human
Non-verbal
Gestures Touching Gazes Facial expressions Spatial arrangement

In nature
For example: Honeybee dances Bird calls

Experimental
(assisted by humans)

Language

For example: Washoe (chimp) Kanzi (bonobo) Koko (gorilla) Alex (parrot)

Spoken Signed Written

Non-Human Communication in Nature

Honeybee dances
Round dance
Bee dances after finding nearby food source Arouses other bees Contains no directional information

Waggle dance
Bee dances after finding distant food source Dance movements communicate where food is Redundancy: pheromone and nectar scent

Non-Human Communication in Nature

Honeybee dances
Innate or learned?
Nature vs. nurture

General pattern is innate Precision is partially learned

Flying practice Dancer following practice

Non-Human Communication in Nature

Bird vocalizations
Calls
Shorter Various functions

Songs
Longer, more complex For attracting a mate Species specific

Non-Human Communication in Nature

Birdsongs: inheritance (genetics) vs. learning (environment)? Experiments Findings
General song pattern innate Song details learned from other birds
Own species Within 50 days of hatching Matches memory to practice

Nonhuman Communication vs. Human Language (1)

Stimulus-bound
Behavior that occurs only as a result of a specific environmental trigger (occurrence)
Animals? Yes Humans? Generally not

Displacement
The ability to communicate about things at times other than the present, and to communicate about things not directly in front of the sender and/or receiver
Animals? Yes strictly limited Humans? Yes un-limited

Nonhuman Communication vs. Human Language (2)

Prevarication
The ability to communicate about things that are not verifiable, things for which there is no empirical proof (includes lying)
Animals? Yes genetic, limited Humans: Yes learned, unlimited

Innate
Animals: Yes, but some elements learned Humans: Predisposition seems innate/genetic, but specific language is learned

Nonhuman Communication vs. Human Language (3)

Discrete signals, recombined
Producing signals that do not blend with other signals and then combining these
Animals? No, but some nonhuman primates may have very limited ability with their calls, and apes have done it when taught signs or symbols by humans Humans? Yes, without limit, usually as words in sentences

Arbitrary
Features of language (e.g. sounds, words, sentences) have no direct relationship to their meaning
Animals? Yes, for the most part Humans? Yes, except for aspects of onomatopoeia

Nonhuman Communication vs. Human Language (4)

Openness
The ability to add new words, phrases, or other meaningful units to a language
Animals? No, or strictly limited (e.g. ape language experiments) Humans? Yes, unlimited

Productivity
The ability to produce messages that one has never produced before & to understand messages that one has never heard or seen before.
Animals? No, or strictly limited (e.g. ape language experiments) Humans? Yes, unlimited

Communication
(Non-human) Animal

Human
Non-verbal
Gestures Touching Gazes Facial expressions Spatial arrangement

In nature
For example: Honeybee dances Bird calls

Experimental
(assisted by humans)

Language

For example: Washoe (chimp) Kanzi (bonobo) Koko (gorilla) Alex (parrot)

Spoken Signed Written

Non-human Communication Experimental

Ape Language Experiments Apes lack vocal apparatus to make human sounds Apes do use body gestures From 1966, researchers used signs (gestures) and later symbols Famous subjects: Washoe, Kanzi, Koko

Washoe the Chimpanzee

Never heard English spoken (initially) Researchers only used ASL signs Raised like a human child Learned about 350 signs Spontaneously combined signs Lived 1965-2007 Nevada (1966-1970), Oklahoma (1971-1980?), Washington (1980-2007)

Washoe and Sign Language

[YouTube video link on Blackboard]

Washoe Combining Signs

[YouTube video link on Blackboard]

Kanzi the Bonobo

Sue Savage-Rumbaugh, psychologist Uses spoken English and a computer sign keyboard Understands spoken English somewhat like 2.5 year old human May have basic understanding of simple grammar (2-word sentences)

Kanzi the Bonobo

[YouTube video link on Blackboard]

Kanzi understands new spoken language

[YouTube video link on Blackboard]

Koko the Lowland Gorilla

Born 1971 (still alive) Dr. Penny Patterson (President and Director of Research, The Gorilla Foundation) currently works with Koko. 1000 ASL signs and understand 2000 words of spoken English (2010, age 38) 1998, interspecies online chat on America Online (http://www.koko.org/world/talk_aol.html)

Koko chats online - 1998

PENNY: Hey, Cutie. (Penny swivels Koko's chair around so they face each other.) PENNY: Let me explain what we're doing. KOKO: Fine. PENNY: We're going to be on the phone with a lot of people who are going to ask us questions... KOKO: Nipple. (Koko sometimes uses 'nipple' as a 'sounds like' for 'people.') PENNY: ...about you and about me. . . Lots of people. KOKO: That red pink. (Indicating Penny's shirt.) PENNY: That red pink. Yes, right! KOKO: Hurry good. PENNY: This is redthis is pink, exactly. KOKO: Pink. (Koko reaches for Penny's pocket which contains treats.) PENNY: OK. That's the kind of things they are going to ask. KOKO: Good. PENNY: Questions about colors or how you're feeling. OK? KOKO: That red. (Indicating her own hair.) PENNY: Honey, this is black. http://www.koko.org/world/talk_aol.html

Alex the Parrot

African grey parrot 1977-2007 Communication abilities studied for 30 years by Irene Pepperberg Mimicking (mindless repetition) vs. imitating (matching behavior to others)?
Coining new words Sound substitution

Was Alex thinking? (reasoning, calculated choice)

Alex the Parrot

[YouTube video link on Blackboard]

Nonhuman Communication vs. Human Language

Did what we saw in the videos demonstrate communication? Communication: Behavior that affects others behavior by transmission of information YES.

Ape Communication vs. Human Language

Did the videos demonstrate language? Signs? Transmission?

Syntax? (rules to Creativity? form language units Language? larger than words) Human language? Conversation (turntaking system)?

Non-human & Human Communication

human animal culturally-shaped creative linguistic

geneticallydetermined non-linguistic Non-human animal communication

Human communication

Are they separate categories, or is there a continuum?

Communication
(Non-human) Animal

Human
Non-verbal
Gestures Touching Gazes Facial expressions Spatial arrangement

In nature
For example: Honeybee dances Bird calls

Experimental
(assisted by humans)

Language

For example: Washoe (chimp) Kanzi (bonobo) Koko (gorilla) Alex (parrot)

Spoken Signed Written

Language: How to define?

A language is a system with a lexicon and a grammar. Lexicon: vocabulary of a language (words and expressions) Grammar: the system of elements (like words) and rules of phonology, morphology, syntax and semantics in a language.
Phonological system: pattern of how sounds or visual symbols are used to form sequences called words and morphemes (word parts) Morphology: rules for how words & other units are constructed Syntax: rules for forming units of language larger than words Semantics: rules of meaning

Language: In your head?

Linguistic competence
Mostly subconscious knowledge of Grammar & lexicon of ones language Allows speaker to create potentially infinite number of messages

Linguistic performance
Application of linguistic competence to producing an utterance

Language: How to define?

Mental faculty
Mind (in a body!)
Mental faculty

Symbolic system
Complex Signs Rules for combining

Communication tool
Shared Behavior Social interaction

Symbolic system

Communication tool

Metaphors for Human Communication

Sending and receiving encoded messages? Throwing and catching a ball? A tennis game? No, a dance!
Meanings not only in intent or messages Meanings depend on relationships, biases, interference, mistakes Depend on linguistic & nonlinguistic feedback Unpredictable outcomes Messages emerge and evolve

Language: How to recognize different definitions

Textbook definition: Language is a mental process, and speech is one delivery Mental system for language. (p. 13)
faculty

Is this language as
mental faculty? symbolic system? communication tool?
Symbolic system Communication tool

But are relationships between language users, mistakes, and non-informational speaking also part of language?

Human Language is
Complex System of Signs Creative (productive) Acquired Culturally-shaped Culturally-shaping Performative Interactive Multifunctional Changing

Intercultural Miscommunication
Intercultural Communication
A field of study Studies how people from different cultures and areas act, communicate, and perceive the world Studies situations where people from different cultural backgrounds interact

Intercultural Miscommunication
Culture shock
Ones feelings of disorientation and anxiety when social expectations are not met

Ethnocentrism
Judging other cultures by the standards of your own culture Believing that your culture is superior to other cultures

The Pirah
Brazilian Amazon Indigenous hunter-gatherer tribe About 420 people Call themselves the straight ones Everybody else is crooked head!

Brazilian Amazon

SIL International
Evangelical Christian nonprofit organization Trains field linguists (used to be linguist-missionaries) SIL field linguists collect and analyze data on languages around the world Translation (used to be mainly Christian Bible; now identified by indigenous priorities) Holistic community development Produce linguistics textbooks, software, and fonts Produces the Ethnologue, Languages of the World