1
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Walsh SL, Townsend SW, Engesser S, Ridley AR. Call combination production is linked to the social environment in Western Australian magpies ( Gymnorhina tibicen dorsalis). Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2024; 379:20230198. [PMID: 38768205 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2023.0198] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/21/2023] [Accepted: 04/04/2024] [Indexed: 05/22/2024] Open
Abstract
It has recently become clear that some language-specific traits previously thought to be unique to humans (such as the capacity to combine sounds) are widespread in the animal kingdom. Despite the increase in studies documenting the presence of call combinations in non-human animals, factors promoting this vocal trait are unclear. One leading hypothesis proposes that communicative complexity co-evolved with social complexity owing to the need to transmit a diversity of information to a wider range of social partners. The Western Australian magpie (Gymnorhina tibicen dorsalis) provides a unique model to investigate this proposed link because it is a group-living, vocal learning species that is capable of multi-level combinatoriality (independently produced calls contain vocal segments and comprise combinations). Here, we compare variations in the production of call combinations across magpie groups ranging in size from 2 to 11 birds. We found that callers in larger groups give call combinations: (i) in greater diversity and (ii) more frequently than callers in smaller groups. Significantly, these observations support the hypothesis that combinatorial complexity may be related to social complexity in an open-ended vocal learner, providing an important step in understanding the role that sociality may have played in the development of vocal combinatorial complexity. This article is part of the theme issue 'The power of sound: unravelling how acoustic communication shapes group dynamics'.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sarah L Walsh
- Centre for Evolutionary Biology, School of Biological Sciences, University of Western Australia , Crawley, Western Australia 6008, Australia
| | - Simon W Townsend
- Department of Evolutionary Anthropology, University of Zurich , Zurich 8032, Switzerland
- Center for the Interdisciplinary Study of Language Evolution (ISLE), University of Zurich , Zurich 8032, Switzerland
- Department of Psychology, University of Warwick , Coventry CV4 7AL, UK
| | - Sabrina Engesser
- Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen , Kobenhavn 2100, Denmark
| | - Amanda R Ridley
- Centre for Evolutionary Biology, School of Biological Sciences, University of Western Australia , Crawley, Western Australia 6008, Australia
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2
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Xie B, Brask JB, Dabelsteen T, Briefer EF. Exploring the role of vocalizations in regulating group dynamics. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2024; 379:20230183. [PMID: 38768197 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2023.0183] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/31/2023] [Accepted: 02/14/2024] [Indexed: 05/22/2024] Open
Abstract
Because of the diverging needs of individuals, group life can lead to disputes and competition, but it also has many advantages, such as reduced predation risk, information sharing and increased hunting success. Social animals have to maintain group cohesion and need to synchronize activities, such as foraging, resting, social interactions and movements, in order to thrive in groups. Acoustic signals are highly relevant for social dynamics, some because they are long-ranging and others because they are short-ranging, which may serve important within-group functions. However, although there has been an increase in studies concentrating on acoustic communication within groups in the past decade, many aspects of how vocalizations relate to group dynamics are still poorly understood. The aim of this review is to present an overview of our current knowledge on the role of vocalizations in regulating social group dynamics, identify knowledge gaps and recommend potential future research directions. We review the role that vocalizations play in (i) collective movement, (ii) separation risk and cohesion maintenance, (iii) fission-fusion dynamics, and (iv) social networks. We recommend that future studies aim to increase the diversity of studied species and strengthen the integration of state-of-the-art tools to study social dynamics and acoustic signals. This article is part of the theme issue 'The power of sound: unravelling how acoustic communication shapes group dynamics'.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bing Xie
- Behavioural Ecology Group, Section for Ecology and Evolution, University of Copenhagen , Copenhagen, 2100, Denmark
| | - Josefine B Brask
- Behavioural Ecology Group, Section for Ecology and Evolution, University of Copenhagen , Copenhagen, 2100, Denmark
| | - Torben Dabelsteen
- Behavioural Ecology Group, Section for Ecology and Evolution, University of Copenhagen , Copenhagen, 2100, Denmark
| | - Elodie F Briefer
- Behavioural Ecology Group, Section for Ecology and Evolution, University of Copenhagen , Copenhagen, 2100, Denmark
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3
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Jon-And A, Jonsson M, Lind J, Ghirlanda S, Enquist M. Sequence representation as an early step in the evolution of language. PLoS Comput Biol 2023; 19:e1011702. [PMID: 38091352 PMCID: PMC10752568 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1011702] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/12/2023] [Revised: 12/27/2023] [Accepted: 11/20/2023] [Indexed: 12/28/2023] Open
Abstract
Human language is unique in its compositional, open-ended, and sequential form, and its evolution is often solely explained by advantages of communication. However, it has proven challenging to identify an evolutionary trajectory from a world without language to a world with language, especially while at the same time explaining why such an advantageous phenomenon has not evolved in other animals. Decoding sequential information is necessary for language, making domain-general sequence representation a tentative basic requirement for the evolution of language and other uniquely human phenomena. Here, using formal evolutionary analyses of the utility of sequence representation we show that sequence representation is exceedingly costly and that current memory systems found in animals may prevent abilities necessary for language to emerge. For sequence representation to evolve, flexibility allowing for ignoring irrelevant information is necessary. Furthermore, an abundance of useful sequential information and extensive learning opportunities are required, two conditions that were likely fulfilled early in human evolution. Our results provide a novel, logically plausible trajectory for the evolution of uniquely human cognition and language, and support the hypothesis that human culture is rooted in sequential representational and processing abilities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anna Jon-And
- Centre for Cultural Evolution, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden
- Department of Romance Studies and Classics, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Markus Jonsson
- Centre for Cultural Evolution, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Johan Lind
- Centre for Cultural Evolution, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden
- IFM Biology, Linköping University, 581 83 Linköping, Sweden
| | - Stefano Ghirlanda
- Centre for Cultural Evolution, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden
- Department of Psychology, Brooklyn College of CUNY, Brooklyn, New York, United States of America
- Department of Psychology, CUNY Graduate Center, New York, New York, United States of America
| | - Magnus Enquist
- Centre for Cultural Evolution, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden
- Department of Zoology, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden
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4
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Amphaeris J, Blumstein DT, Shannon G, Tenbrink T, Kershenbaum A. A multifaceted framework to establish the presence of meaning in non-human communication. Biol Rev Camb Philos Soc 2023; 98:1887-1909. [PMID: 37340613 DOI: 10.1111/brv.12989] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/09/2022] [Revised: 06/01/2023] [Accepted: 06/05/2023] [Indexed: 06/22/2023]
Abstract
Does non-human communication, like language, involve meaning? This question guides our focus through an interdisciplinary review of the theories and terminology used to study meaning across disciplines and species. Until now, it has been difficult to apply the concept of meaning to communication in non-humans. This is partly because of the varied approaches to the study of meaning. Additionally, while there is a scholarly acknowledgement of potential meaning in non-human cognition, there is also scepticism when the topic of communication arises. We organise some of the key literature into a coherent framework that can bridge disciplines and species, to ensure that aspects of meaning are accurately and fairly compared. We clarify the growing view in the literature that, rather than requiring multiple definitions or being split into different types, meaning is a multifaceted yet still unified concept. In so doing, we propose that meaning is an umbrella term. Meaning cannot be summed up with a short definition or list of features, but involves multiple complexities that are outlined in our framework. Specifically, three global facets are needed to describe meaning: a Signal Meaning Facet, an Interactant Meaning Facet, and a Resultant Meaning Facet. Most importantly, we show that such analyses are possible to apply as much to non-humans as to humans. We also emphasise that meaning nuances differ among non-human species, making a dichotomous approach to meaning questionable. Instead, we show that a multifaceted approach to meaning establishes how meaning appears within highly diverse examples of non-human communication, in ways consistent with the phenomenon's presence in human non-verbal communication and language(s). Therefore, without further recourse to 'functional' approaches that circumvent the critical question of whether any non-human meaning exists, we show that the concept of meaning is suitable for evolutionary biologists, behavioural ecologists, and others to study, to establish exactly which species exhibit meaning in their communication and in what ways.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jenny Amphaeris
- School of Arts, Culture, and Language, Bangor University, College Road, Bangor, LL57 2DG, UK
| | - Daniel T Blumstein
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, 621 Young Drive South, Los Angeles, CA, 90095-1606, USA
| | - Graeme Shannon
- School of Natural Sciences, Bangor University, College Road, Bangor, LL57 2DG, UK
| | - Thora Tenbrink
- School of Arts, Culture, and Language, Bangor University, College Road, Bangor, LL57 2DG, UK
| | - Arik Kershenbaum
- Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge, CB2 3EJ, UK
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5
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Zanoli A, Raimondi T, De Gregorio C, Valente D, Carugati F, Torti V, Friard O, Miaretsoa L, Giacoma C, Gamba M. "The song remains the same": not really! Vocal flexibility in the song of the indris. Anim Cogn 2023; 26:2009-2021. [PMID: 37792125 PMCID: PMC10769932 DOI: 10.1007/s10071-023-01826-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/22/2022] [Revised: 09/14/2023] [Accepted: 09/19/2023] [Indexed: 10/05/2023]
Abstract
In studying communicative signals, we can think of flexibility as a necessary correlate of creativity. Flexibility enables animals to find practical solutions and appropriate behaviors in mutable situations. In this study, we aimed to quantify the degree of flexibility in the songs of indris (Indri indri), the only singing lemur, using three different metrics: Jaro Distance, normalized diversity, and entropy. We hypothesized that the degree and the co-variation of the flexibility of indris singing together would vary according to their status and sex. We found that dominant females were more flexible than dominant males when concatenating elements into strings (element concatenation). The number of different elements in a song contribution normalized by the contribution length (contribution diversity) of dominant individuals positively co-varied for seven duetting pairs. Non-dominant individuals were more variable in element concatenation than dominant individuals, and they were more diverse in phrase type than dominant females. Independently from sex and status, individual contributions did not differ in entropy (a measure of the predictability of contributions). These results corroborate previous findings regarding the dimorphism by sex and by status of individual contributions to songs. Thus, they shed light on the presence and expression of flexibility in the behavior of a non-human primate species. Indeed, they potentially show an effect of social features in shaping vocal flexibility, which underlies many communication systems, including human language. We speculate that this degree of flexibility may account for creativity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anna Zanoli
- Department of Life Sciences and System Biology, University of Turin, Via Accademia Albertina 13, Turin, Italy.
| | - Teresa Raimondi
- Department of Life Sciences and System Biology, University of Turin, Via Accademia Albertina 13, Turin, Italy.
| | - Chiara De Gregorio
- Department of Life Sciences and System Biology, University of Turin, Via Accademia Albertina 13, Turin, Italy
| | - Daria Valente
- Department of Life Sciences and System Biology, University of Turin, Via Accademia Albertina 13, Turin, Italy
- Parco Natura Viva Garda Zoological Park, Bussolengo, Verona, Italy
| | - Filippo Carugati
- Department of Life Sciences and System Biology, University of Turin, Via Accademia Albertina 13, Turin, Italy
| | - Valeria Torti
- Department of Life Sciences and System Biology, University of Turin, Via Accademia Albertina 13, Turin, Italy
| | - Olivier Friard
- Department of Life Sciences and System Biology, University of Turin, Via Accademia Albertina 13, Turin, Italy
| | - Longondraza Miaretsoa
- Department of Life Sciences and System Biology, University of Turin, Via Accademia Albertina 13, Turin, Italy
- Groupe d'Étude et de Recherche Sur les Primates de Madagascar (GERP), Antananarivo, Madagascar
| | - Cristina Giacoma
- Department of Life Sciences and System Biology, University of Turin, Via Accademia Albertina 13, Turin, Italy
| | - Marco Gamba
- Department of Life Sciences and System Biology, University of Turin, Via Accademia Albertina 13, Turin, Italy
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6
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Schlenker P, Coye C, Leroux M, Chemla E. The ABC-D of animal linguistics: are syntax and compositionality for real? Biol Rev Camb Philos Soc 2023; 98:1142-1159. [PMID: 36960599 DOI: 10.1111/brv.12944] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/12/2022] [Revised: 02/22/2023] [Accepted: 02/23/2023] [Indexed: 03/25/2023]
Abstract
In several animal species, an alarm call (e.g. ABC notes in the Japanese tit Parus minor) can be immediately followed by a recruitment call (e.g. D notes) to yield a complex call that triggers a third behaviour, namely mobbing. This has been taken to be an argument for animal syntax and compositionality (i.e. the property by which the meaning of a complex expression depends on the meaning of its parts and the way they are put together). Several additional discoveries were made across species. First, in some cases, animals respond with mobbing to the order alarm-recruitment but not to the order recruitment-alarm. Second, animals sometimes respond similarly to functionally analogous heterospecific calls they have never heard before, and/or to artificial hybrid sequences made of conspecific and heterospecific calls in the same order, thus adding an argument for the productivity of the relevant rules. We consider the details of these arguments for animal syntax and compositionality and argue that, with one important exception (Japanese tit ABC-D sequences), they currently remain ambiguous: there are reasonable alternatives on which each call is a separate utterance and is interpreted as such ('trivial compositionality'). More generally, we propose that future studies should argue for animal syntax and compositionality by explicitly pitting the target theory against two deflationary analyses: the 'only one expression' hypothesis posits that there is no combination in the first place, for example just a simplex ABCD call; while the 'separate utterances' hypothesis posits that there are separate expressions (e.g. ABC and D), but that they form separate utterances and are neither syntactically nor semantically combined.
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Affiliation(s)
- Philippe Schlenker
- Département d'Etudes Cognitives, Ecole Normale Supérieure, Institut Jean-Nicod (ENS - EHESS - CNRS), 29, rue d'Ulm, Paris, 75005, France
- PSL Research University, 60 Rue Mazarine, Paris, 75006, France
- Department of Linguistics, New York University, 10 Washington Place, New York, NY, 10003, USA
| | - Camille Coye
- Département d'Etudes Cognitives, Ecole Normale Supérieure, Institut Jean-Nicod (ENS - EHESS - CNRS), 29, rue d'Ulm, Paris, 75005, France
- PSL Research University, 60 Rue Mazarine, Paris, 75006, France
| | - Maël Leroux
- Department of Comparative Language Science, University of Zürich, Affolternstrasse 56, Zürich, CH-8050, Switzerland
- Center for the Interdisciplinary Study of Language Evolution (ISLE), University of Zürich, Affolternstrasse 56, Zürich, CH-8050, Switzerland
| | - Emmanuel Chemla
- PSL Research University, 60 Rue Mazarine, Paris, 75006, France
- LSCP (ENS - EHESS - CNRS), Département d'Etudes Cognitives, Ecole Normale Supérieure, 29, rue d'Ulm, Paris, 75005, France
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7
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Berthet M, Coye C, Dezecache G, Kuhn J. Animal linguistics: a primer. Biol Rev Camb Philos Soc 2023; 98:81-98. [PMID: 36189714 PMCID: PMC10091714 DOI: 10.1111/brv.12897] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/05/2022] [Revised: 08/10/2022] [Accepted: 08/12/2022] [Indexed: 01/12/2023]
Abstract
The evolution of language has been investigated by several research communities, including biologists and linguists, striving to highlight similar linguistic capacities across species. To date, however, no consensus exists on the linguistic capacities of non-human species. Major controversies remain on the use of linguistic terminology, analysis methods and behavioural data collection. The field of 'animal linguistics' has emerged to overcome these difficulties and attempt to reach uniform methods and terminology. This primer is a tutorial review of 'animal linguistics'. It describes the linguistic concepts of semantics, pragmatics and syntax, and proposes minimal criteria to be fulfilled to claim that a given species displays a particular linguistic capacity. Second, it reviews relevant methods successfully applied to the study of communication in animals and proposes a list of useful references to detect and overcome major pitfalls commonly observed in the collection of animal behaviour data. This primer represents a step towards mutual understanding and fruitful collaborations between linguists and biologists.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mélissa Berthet
- Institut Jean Nicod, Département d'études cognitives, ENS, EHESS, CNRS, PSL University, 75005, Paris, France.,Center for the Interdisciplinary Study of Language Evolution, University of Zürich, Affolternstrasse 56, 8050, Zurich, Switzerland.,Department of Comparative Language Science, University of Zürich, Affolternstrasse 56, 8050, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Camille Coye
- Institut Jean Nicod, Département d'études cognitives, ENS, EHESS, CNRS, PSL University, 75005, Paris, France.,Center for Ecology and Conservation, Bioscience Department, University of Exeter, Penryn Campus, Penryn, TR10 9FE, UK
| | | | - Jeremy Kuhn
- Institut Jean Nicod, Département d'études cognitives, ENS, EHESS, CNRS, PSL University, 75005, Paris, France
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8
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Bare and Constructional Compositionality. INT J PRIMATOL 2023. [DOI: 10.1007/s10764-022-00343-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/20/2023]
Abstract
AbstractThis paper proposes a typology of compositionality as manifest in human language and animal communication. At the heart of the typology is a distinction between bare compositionality, in which the meaning of a complex expression is determined solely by the meanings of its constituents, and constructional compositionality, in which the meaning of a complex expression is determined by the meanings of its constituents and also by various aspects of its structure. Bare and constructional compositionality may be observed in human language as well as in various animal communication systems, including primates and birds. Architecturally, bare compositionality provides the foundations for constructional compositionality, while phylogenetically, bare compositionality is a potential starting point for the evolution of constructional compositionality in animal communication and human language.
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9
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Evidence for compositionality in baboons (Papio papio) through the test case of negation. Sci Rep 2022; 12:19181. [PMID: 36357450 PMCID: PMC9649700 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-21143-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/28/2022] [Accepted: 09/22/2022] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Can non-human animals combine abstract representations much like humans do with language? In particular, can they entertain a compositional representation such as 'not blue'? Across two experiments, we demonstrate that baboons (Papio papio) show a capacity for compositionality. Experiment 1 showed that baboons can entertain negative, compositional, representations: they can learn to associate a cue with iconically related referents (e.g., a blue patch referring to all blue objects), but also to the complement set associated with it (e.g., a blue patch referring to all non-blue objects). Strikingly, Experiment 2 showed that baboons not only learn to associate a cue with iconically related referents, but can learn to associate complex cues (composed of the same cue and an additional visual element) with the complement object set. Thus, they can learn an operation, instantiated by this additional visual element, that can be compositionally combined with previously learned cues. These results significantly reduce any claim that would make the manipulation and combination of abstract representations a solely human privilege.
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10
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Experimental evidence for core-Merge in the vocal communication system of a wild passerine. Nat Commun 2022; 13:5605. [PMID: 36153329 PMCID: PMC9509327 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-33360-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/20/2022] [Accepted: 09/14/2022] [Indexed: 12/03/2022] Open
Abstract
One of the cognitive capacities underlying language is core-Merge, which allows senders to combine two words into a sequence and receivers to recognize it as a single unit. Recent field studies suggest intriguing parallels in non-human animals, e.g., Japanese tits (Parus minor) combine two meaning-bearing calls into a sequence when prompting antipredator displays in other individuals. However, whether such examples represent core-Merge remains unclear; receivers may perceive a two-call sequence as two individual calls that are arbitrarily produced in close time proximity, not as a single unit. If an animal species has evolved core-Merge, its receivers should treat a two-call sequence produced by a single individual differently from the same two calls produced by two individuals with the same timing. Here, we show that Japanese tit receivers exhibit antipredator displays when perceiving two-call sequences broadcast from a single source, but not from two sources, providing evidence for core-Merge in animals. It has been hypothesized that language depends on a capacity to produce and recognize two items (e.g., “come” + “talk”) as a single unit (e.g., “come talk”). Here, the authors show that a wild passerine also uses this capacity in vocal communication.
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11
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Girard-Buttoz C, Zaccarella E, Bortolato T, Friederici AD, Wittig RM, Crockford C. Chimpanzees produce diverse vocal sequences with ordered and recombinatorial properties. Commun Biol 2022; 5:410. [PMID: 35577891 PMCID: PMC9110424 DOI: 10.1038/s42003-022-03350-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/30/2021] [Accepted: 04/10/2022] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
The origins of human language remains a major question in evolutionary science. Unique to human language is the capacity to flexibly recombine a limited sound set into words and hierarchical sequences, generating endlessly new sentences. In contrast, sequence production of other animals appears limited, stunting meaning generation potential. However, studies have rarely quantified flexibility and structure of vocal sequence production across the whole repertoire. Here, we used such an approach to examine the structure of vocal sequences in chimpanzees, known to combine calls used singly into longer sequences. Focusing on the structure of vocal sequences, we analysed 4826 recordings of 46 wild adult chimpanzees from Taï National Park. Chimpanzees produced 390 unique vocal sequences. Most vocal units emitted singly were also emitted in two-unit sequences (bigrams), which in turn were embedded into three-unit sequences (trigrams). Bigrams showed positional and transitional regularities within trigrams with certain bigrams predictably occurring in either head or tail positions in trigrams, and predictably co-occurring with specific other units. From a purely structural perspective, the capacity to organize single units into structured sequences offers a versatile system potentially suitable for expansive meaning generation. Further research must show to what extent these structural sequences signal predictable meanings.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cédric Girard-Buttoz
- Institut des Sciences Cognitives Marc Jeannerod, CNRS, 67 Boulevard Pinel, 69675 BRON, Lyon, France. .,Taï Chimpanzee Project, Centre Suisse de Recherche Scientifique, Abidjan, Ivory Coast. .,Department of Human Behaviour, Ecology and Culture, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, 04103, Leipzig, Germany.
| | - Emiliano Zaccarella
- Department of Neuropsychology, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive Sciences, 04103, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Tatiana Bortolato
- Institut des Sciences Cognitives Marc Jeannerod, CNRS, 67 Boulevard Pinel, 69675 BRON, Lyon, France.,Taï Chimpanzee Project, Centre Suisse de Recherche Scientifique, Abidjan, Ivory Coast.,Department of Human Behaviour, Ecology and Culture, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, 04103, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Angela D Friederici
- Department of Neuropsychology, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive Sciences, 04103, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Roman M Wittig
- Institut des Sciences Cognitives Marc Jeannerod, CNRS, 67 Boulevard Pinel, 69675 BRON, Lyon, France.,Taï Chimpanzee Project, Centre Suisse de Recherche Scientifique, Abidjan, Ivory Coast.,Department of Human Behaviour, Ecology and Culture, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, 04103, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Catherine Crockford
- Institut des Sciences Cognitives Marc Jeannerod, CNRS, 67 Boulevard Pinel, 69675 BRON, Lyon, France. .,Taï Chimpanzee Project, Centre Suisse de Recherche Scientifique, Abidjan, Ivory Coast. .,Department of Human Behaviour, Ecology and Culture, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, 04103, Leipzig, Germany.
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12
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Zuberbühler K. Event parsing and the origins of grammar. WIRES COGNITIVE SCIENCE 2022; 13:e1587. [PMID: 34929755 PMCID: PMC9285794 DOI: 10.1002/wcs.1587] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/19/2020] [Revised: 10/30/2021] [Accepted: 11/16/2021] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Klaus Zuberbühler
- School of Psychology and Neuroscience University of St Andrews St Andrews Scotland
- Institute of Biology University of Neuchatel Neuchatel
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13
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Zuberbühler K, Bickel B. Transition to language: From agent perception to event representation. WILEY INTERDISCIPLINARY REVIEWS. COGNITIVE SCIENCE 2022; 13:e1594. [PMID: 35639563 PMCID: PMC9786335 DOI: 10.1002/wcs.1594] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/07/2021] [Revised: 02/15/2022] [Accepted: 02/21/2022] [Indexed: 12/30/2022]
Abstract
Spoken language, as we have it, requires specific capacities-at its most basic advanced vocal control and complex social cognition. In humans, vocal control is the basis for speech, achieved through coordinated interactions of larynx activity and rapid changes in vocal tract configurations. Most likely, speech evolved in response to early humans perceiving reality in increasingly complex ways, to the effect that primate-like signaling became unsustainable as a sole communication device. However, in what ways did and do humans see the world in more complex ways compared to other species? Although animal signals can refer to external events, in contrast to humans, they usually refer to the agents only, sometimes in compositional ways, but never together with patients. It may be difficult for animals to comprehend events as part of larger social scripts, with antecedent causes and future consequences, which are more typically tie the patient into the event. Human brain enlargement over the last million years probably has provided the cognitive resources to represent social interactions as part of bigger social scripts, which enabled humans to go beyond an agent-focus to refer to agent-patient relations, the likely foundation for the evolution of grammar. This article is categorized under: Cognitive Biology > Evolutionary Roots of Cognition Linguistics > Evolution of Language Psychology > Comparative.
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Affiliation(s)
- Klaus Zuberbühler
- Institute of Biology, University of NeuchatelNeuchatel,School of Psychology and NeuroscienceUniversity of St AndrewsSt Andrews
| | - Balthasar Bickel
- Department of Comparative Language ScienceUniversity of ZurichZurichSwitzerland,Center for the Interdisciplinary Study of Language EvolutionUniversity of ZurichZurichSwitzerland
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14
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Miyagawa S. Revisiting Fitch and Hauser's Observation That Tamarin Monkeys Can Learn Combinations Based on Finite-State Grammar. Front Psychol 2021; 12:772291. [PMID: 34912276 PMCID: PMC8667552 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.772291] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/07/2021] [Accepted: 11/02/2021] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Shigeru Miyagawa
- Department of Linguistics and Philosophy, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, United States
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15
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Overlooked evidence for semantic compositionality and signal reduction in wild chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes). Anim Cogn 2021; 25:631-643. [PMID: 34822011 PMCID: PMC9107436 DOI: 10.1007/s10071-021-01584-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/23/2021] [Accepted: 11/16/2021] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
Abstract
Recent discoveries of semantic compositionality in Japanese tits have enlivened the discussions on the presence of this phenomenon in wild animal communication. Data on semantic compositionality in wild apes are lacking, even though language experiments with captive apes have demonstrated they are capable of semantic compositionality. In this paper, I revisit the study by Boesch (Hum. Evol. 6:81–89, 1991) who investigated drumming sequences by an alpha male in a chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) community in the Taï National Park, Côte d’Ivoire. A reanalysis of the data reveals that the alpha male produced semantically compositional combined messages of travel direction change and resting period initiation. Unlike the Japanese tits, the elements of the compositional expression were not simply juxtaposed but displayed structural reduction, while one of the two elements in the expression coded the meanings of both elements. These processes show relative resemblance to blending and fusion in human languages. Also unlike the tits, the elements of the compositional expression did not have a fixed order, although there was a fixed distribution of drumming events across the trees used for drumming. Because the elements of the expression appear to carry verb-like meanings, the compositional expression also resembles simple verb-verb constructions and short paratactic combinations of two clauses found across languages. In conclusion, the reanalysis suggests that semantic compositionality and phenomena resembling paratactic combinations of two clauses might have been present in the communication of the last common ancestor of chimpanzees and humans, not necessarily in the vocal modality.
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16
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The origins of music in (musi)language. Behav Brain Sci 2021; 44:e104. [PMID: 34590552 DOI: 10.1017/s0140525x20000813] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/05/2022]
Abstract
The view of music as a byproduct of other cognitive functions has been deemed incomplete or incorrect. Revisiting the six lines of evidence that support this conclusion, it is argued that it is unclear how the hypothesis that music has its origins in (musi)language is discarded. Two additional promising research lines that can support or discard the byproduct hypothesis are presented.
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17
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Sivalinghem S, Mason AC. Function of structured signalling in the black widow spider Latrodectus hesperus. Anim Behav 2021. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2021.07.015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/29/2022]
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18
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Leroux M, Bosshard AB, Chandia B, Manser A, Zuberbühler K, Townsend SW. Chimpanzees combine pant hoots with food calls into larger structures. Anim Behav 2021. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2021.06.026] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/05/2023]
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19
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Gabrić P. Differentiation Between Agents and Patients in the Putative Two-Word Stage of Language Evolution. Front Psychol 2021; 12:684022. [PMID: 34456797 PMCID: PMC8385233 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.684022] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/22/2021] [Accepted: 07/19/2021] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Petar Gabrić
- Institute for German Linguistics, Philipps University of Marburg, Marburg an der Lahn, Germany
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20
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21
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Collier K, Radford AN, Stoll S, Watson SK, Manser MB, Bickel B, Townsend SW. Dwarf mongoose alarm calls: investigating a complex non-human animal call. Proc Biol Sci 2020; 287:20192514. [PMID: 32962548 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2019.2514] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Communication plays a vital role in the social lives of many species and varies greatly in complexity. One possible way to increase communicative complexity is by combining signals into longer sequences, which has been proposed as a mechanism allowing species with a limited repertoire to increase their communicative output. In mammals, most studies on combinatoriality have focused on vocal communication in non-human primates. Here, we investigated a potential combination of alarm calls in the dwarf mongoose (Helogale parvula), a non-primate mammal. Acoustic analyses and playback experiments with a wild population suggest: (i) that dwarf mongooses produce a complex call type (T3) which, at least at the surface level, seems to comprise units that are not functionally different to two meaningful alarm calls (aerial and terrestrial); and (ii) that this T3 call functions as a general alarm, produced in response to a wide range of threats. Using a novel approach, we further explored multiple interpretations of the T3 call based on the information content of the apparent comprising calls and how they are combined. We also considered an alternative, non-combinatorial interpretation that frames T3 as the origin, rather than the product, of the individual alarm calls. This study complements previous knowledge of vocal combinatoriality in non-primate mammals and introduces an approach that could facilitate comparisons between different animal and human communication systems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Katie Collier
- Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies, University of Zurich, Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, 8057 Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Andrew N Radford
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Bristol, 24 Tyndall Ave, Bristol BS8 1TQ, UK
| | - Sabine Stoll
- Psycholinguistics Laboratory, University of Zurich, Plattenstrasse 54, 8032 Zurich, Switzerland.,Department of Comparative Language Science, University of Zurich, Plattenstrasse 54, 8032 Zurich, Switzerland.,Center for the Interdisciplinary Study of Language Evolution (ISLE), University of Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Stuart K Watson
- Department of Comparative Language Science, University of Zurich, Plattenstrasse 54, 8032 Zurich, Switzerland.,Center for the Interdisciplinary Study of Language Evolution (ISLE), University of Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Marta B Manser
- Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies, University of Zurich, Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, 8057 Zurich, Switzerland.,Center for the Interdisciplinary Study of Language Evolution (ISLE), University of Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Balthasar Bickel
- Department of Comparative Language Science, University of Zurich, Plattenstrasse 54, 8032 Zurich, Switzerland.,Center for the Interdisciplinary Study of Language Evolution (ISLE), University of Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Simon W Townsend
- Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies, University of Zurich, Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, 8057 Zurich, Switzerland.,Department of Comparative Language Science, University of Zurich, Plattenstrasse 54, 8032 Zurich, Switzerland.,Center for the Interdisciplinary Study of Language Evolution (ISLE), University of Zurich, Switzerland.,Department of Psychology, University of Warwick, Coventry CV4 7AL, UK
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22
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Zuberbühler K. Syntax and compositionality in animal communication. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2020; 375:20190062. [PMID: 31735152 PMCID: PMC6895557 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2019.0062] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 06/18/2019] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Syntax has been found in animal communication but only humans appear to have generative, hierarchically structured syntax. How did syntax evolve? I discuss three theories of evolutionary transition from animal to human syntax: computational capacity, structural flexibility and event perception. The computation hypothesis is supported by artificial grammar experiments consistently showing that only humans can learn linear stimulus sequences with an underlying hierarchical structure, a possible by-product of computationally powerful large brains. The structural flexibility hypothesis is supported by evidence of meaning-bearing combinatorial and permutational signal sequences in animals, with sometimes compositional features, but no evidence for generativity or hierarchical structure. Again, animals may be constrained by computational limits in short-term memory but possibly also by limits in articulatory control and social cognition. The event categorization hypothesis, finally, posits that humans are cognitively predisposed to analyse natural events by assigning agency and assessing how agents impact on patients, a propensity that is reflected by the basic syntactic units in all languages. Whether animals perceive natural events in the same way is largely unknown, although event perception may provide the cognitive grounding for syntax evolution. This article is part of the theme issue 'What can animal communication teach us about human language?'
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Affiliation(s)
- Klaus Zuberbühler
- Institute of Biology, University of Neuchatel, Rue Emile Argand 11, 2000 Neuchatel, Switzerland
- School of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of St Andrews, St Andrews KY16 9JP, UK
- Centre for the Interdisciplinary Study of Language Evolution, University of Zurich, Plattenstrasse 54, 8032 Zurich, Switzerland
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23
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Suzuki TN, Wheatcroft D, Griesser M. The syntax-semantics interface in animal vocal communication. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2019; 375:20180405. [PMID: 31735156 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2018.0405] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Syntax (rules for combining words or elements) and semantics (meaning of expressions) are two pivotal features of human language, and interaction between them allows us to generate a limitless number of meaningful expressions. While both features were traditionally thought to be unique to human language, research over the past four decades has revealed intriguing parallels in animal communication systems. Many birds and mammals produce specific calls with distinct meanings, and some species combine multiple meaningful calls into syntactically ordered sequences. However, it remains largely unclear whether, like phrases or sentences in human language, the meaning of these call sequences depends on both the meanings of the component calls and their syntactic order. Here, leveraging recently demonstrated examples of meaningful call combinations, we introduce a framework for exploring the interaction between syntax and semantics (i.e. the syntax-semantic interface) in animal vocal sequences. We outline methods to test the cognitive mechanisms underlying the production and perception of animal vocal sequences and suggest potential evolutionary scenarios for syntactic communication. We hope that this review will stimulate phenomenological studies on animal vocal sequences as well as experimental studies on the cognitive processes, which promise to provide further insights into the evolution of language. This article is part of the theme issue 'What can animal communication teach us about human language?'
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Affiliation(s)
- Toshitaka N Suzuki
- Department of General Systems Studies, University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan.,The Hakubi Center for Advanced Research, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan.,Graduate School of Science, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan
| | - David Wheatcroft
- Department of Animal Ecology, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Michael Griesser
- Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
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24
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Bodin C, Belin P. Exploring the cerebral substrate of voice perception in primate brains. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2019; 375:20180386. [PMID: 31735143 PMCID: PMC6895549 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2018.0386] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
One can consider human language to be the Swiss army knife of the vast domain of animal communication. There is now growing evidence suggesting that this technology may have emerged from already operational material instead of being a sudden innovation. Sharing ideas and thoughts with conspecifics via language constitutes an amazing ability, but what value would it hold if our conspecifics were not first detected and recognized? Conspecific voice (CV) perception is fundamental to communication and widely shared across the animal kingdom. Two questions that arise then are: is this apparently shared ability reflected in common cerebral substrate? And, how has this substrate evolved? The paper addresses these questions by examining studies on the cerebral basis of CV perception in humans' closest relatives, non-human primates. Neuroimaging studies, in particular, suggest the existence of a ‘voice patch system’, a network of interconnected cortical areas that can provide a common template for the cerebral processing of CV in primates. This article is part of the theme issue ‘What can animal communication teach us about human language?’
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Affiliation(s)
- Clémentine Bodin
- Institut de Neurosciences de la Timone, UMR 7289 Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique and Aix-Marseille Université, Marseille, France
| | - Pascal Belin
- Institut de Neurosciences de la Timone, UMR 7289 Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique and Aix-Marseille Université, Marseille, France.,Département de Psychologie, Université de Montréal, Montréal, Canada
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25
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Gil D, Shen Y. How Grammar Introduces Asymmetry Into Cognitive Structures: Compositional Semantics, Metaphors, and Schematological Hybrids. Front Psychol 2019; 10:2275. [PMID: 31681084 PMCID: PMC6812659 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02275] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/25/2019] [Accepted: 09/23/2019] [Indexed: 12/05/2022] Open
Abstract
This paper presents a preliminary and tentative formulation of a novel empirical generalization governing the relationship between grammar and cognition across a variety of independent domains. Its point of departure is an abstract distinction between two kinds of cognitive structures: symmetric and asymmetric. While in principle any feature whatsoever has the potential for introducing asymmetry, this paper focuses on one specific feature, namely thematic-role assignment. Our main empirical finding concerns the role of language, or, more specifically, grammar, in effecting and maintaining the distinction between symmetric and asymmetric cognitive structures. Specifically, whereas symmetric structures devoid of thematic-role assignment more commonly occur in a non-grammatical and usually also non-verbal medium, asymmetric structures involving thematic-role assignment are more likely to be associated with a grammatical medium. Our work draws together three independent strands of empirical research associated with three diverse phenomenological domains: compositional semantics, metaphors and schematological hybrids. These three domains instantiate conceptual combinations, bringing together two or more subordinate entities into a single superordinate entity. For compositional semantics this consists of a juxtaposition of constituent signs to form a single more complex sign; for metaphors this entails the bringing together of two different concepts in order to produce a comparison; while for schematological hybrids this involves the combination of different entities to form a single new hybrid entity. Our empirical results reveal a remarkable parallelism between the above three domains. Within each domain, symmetric structures tend to be associated with a non-verbal or otherwise non-grammatical medium, while asymmetric structures are more frequently associated with a grammatical medium. Thus, within each domain, grammar introduces asymmetry. More specifically, we find that in all three domains, the asymmetry in question is one that involves the assignment of thematic roles. To capture this effect, we posit two distinct levels, or tiers, of cognition: non-grammatical cognition, more commonly associated with symmetric structures, and grammatical cognition more conducive to asymmetric structures. Within each of the three phenomenological domains, we find the distinction between non-grammatical and grammatical cognition to be manifest in three independent realms, phylogeny, ontogeny, and the architecture of human cognition. Thus, grammar constitutes the driving force behind the transition from symmetric to asymmetric cognitive structures.
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Affiliation(s)
- David Gil
- Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Jena, Germany
| | - Yeshayahu Shen
- The Program of Cognitive Studies of Language and Its Uses, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
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26
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Miyagawa S, Clarke E. Systems Underlying Human and Old World Monkey Communication: One, Two, or Infinite. Front Psychol 2019; 10:1911. [PMID: 31551849 PMCID: PMC6734162 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2019.01911] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/30/2019] [Accepted: 08/05/2019] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Using artificially synthesized stimuli, previous research has shown that cotton-top tamarin monkeys easily learn simple AB grammar sequences, but not the more complex AnBn sequences that require hierarchical structure. Humans have no trouble learning AnBn combinations. A more recent study, using similar artificially created stimuli, showed that there is a neuroanatomical difference in the brain between these two kinds of arrays. While the simpler AB sequences recruit the frontal operculum, the AnBn array recruits the phylogenetically newer Broca’s area. We propose that on close inspection, reported vocal repertoires of Old World Monkeys show that these nonhuman primates are capable of calls that have two items in them, but never more than two. These are simple AB sequences, as predicted by previous research. In addition, we suggest the two-item call cannot be the result of a combinatorial operation that we see in human language, where the recursive operation of Merge allows for a potentially infinite array of structures. In our view, the two-item calls of nonhuman primates result from a dual-compartment frame into which each of the calls can fit without having to be combined by an operation such as Merge.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shigeru Miyagawa
- Linguistics and Philosophy, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, United States.,Office of Open Learning, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, United States
| | - Esther Clarke
- Linguistics and Philosophy, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, United States.,Behavioral Ecology and Evolution Research (BEER) Group, Durham University, Durham, United Kingdom
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27
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Fröhlich M, Sievers C, Townsend SW, Gruber T, van Schaik CP. Multimodal communication and language origins: integrating gestures and vocalizations. Biol Rev Camb Philos Soc 2019; 94:1809-1829. [PMID: 31250542 DOI: 10.1111/brv.12535] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/08/2018] [Revised: 05/22/2019] [Accepted: 05/29/2019] [Indexed: 12/21/2022]
Abstract
The presence of divergent and independent research traditions in the gestural and vocal domains of primate communication has resulted in major discrepancies in the definition and operationalization of cognitive concepts. However, in recent years, accumulating evidence from behavioural and neurobiological research has shown that both human and non-human primate communication is inherently multimodal. It is therefore timely to integrate the study of gestural and vocal communication. Herein, we review evidence demonstrating that there is no clear difference between primate gestures and vocalizations in the extent to which they show evidence for the presence of key language properties: intentionality, reference, iconicity and turn-taking. We also find high overlap in the neurobiological mechanisms producing primate gestures and vocalizations, as well as in ontogenetic flexibility. These findings confirm that human language had multimodal origins. Nonetheless, we note that in great apes, gestures seem to fulfil a carrying (i.e. predominantly informative) role in close-range communication, whereas the opposite holds for face-to-face interactions of humans. This suggests an evolutionary shift in the carrying role from the gestural to the vocal stream, and we explore this transition in the carrying modality. Finally, we suggest that future studies should focus on the links between complex communication, sociality and cooperative tendency to strengthen the study of language origins.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marlen Fröhlich
- Department of Anthropology, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, 8057, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Christine Sievers
- Department of Philosophy and Media Studies, Philosophy Seminar, University of Basel, Holbeinstrasse 12, 4051, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Simon W Townsend
- Department of Comparative Linguistics, University of Zurich, Plattenstrasse 54, 8032, Zurich, Switzerland.,Department of Psychology, University of Warwick, University Road, CV4 7AL, Coventry, UK
| | - Thibaud Gruber
- Swiss Center for Affective Sciences, CISA, University of Geneva, Chemin des Mines 9, 1202, Geneva, Switzerland.,Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, 11a Mansfield Road, OX1 3SZ, Oxford, UK
| | - Carel P van Schaik
- Department of Anthropology, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, 8057, Zurich, Switzerland
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28
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29
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Engesser S, Townsend SW. Combinatoriality in the vocal systems of nonhuman animals. WILEY INTERDISCIPLINARY REVIEWS. COGNITIVE SCIENCE 2019; 10:e1493. [PMID: 30724476 DOI: 10.1002/wcs.1493] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/31/2018] [Revised: 01/03/2019] [Accepted: 01/09/2019] [Indexed: 12/27/2022]
Abstract
A key challenge in the field of human language evolution is the identification of the selective conditions that gave rise to language's generative nature. Comparative data on nonhuman animals provides a powerful tool to investigate similarities and differences among nonhuman and human communication systems and to reveal convergent evolutionary mechanisms. In this article, we provide an overview of the current evidence for combinatorial structures found in the vocal system of diverse species. We show that considerable structural diversity exits across and within species in the forms of combinatorial structures used. Based on this we suggest that a fine-grained classification and differentiation of combinatoriality is a useful approach permitting systematic comparisons across animals. Specifically, this will help to identify factors that might promote the emergence of combinatoriality and, crucially, whether differences in combinatorial mechanisms might be driven by variations in social and ecological conditions or cognitive capacities. This article is categorized under: Cognitive Biology > Evolutionary Roots of Cognition Linguistics > Evolution of Language.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sabrina Engesser
- Department of Comparative Linguistics, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Simon W Townsend
- Department of Comparative Linguistics, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.,Department of Psychology, University of Warwick, Coventry, UK
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30
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Sandler W. The Body as Evidence for the Nature of Language. Front Psychol 2018; 9:1782. [PMID: 30467484 PMCID: PMC6237178 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01782] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/09/2018] [Accepted: 09/03/2018] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Taking its cue from sign languages, this paper proposes that the recruitment and composition of body actions provide evidence for key properties of language and its emergence. Adopting the view that compositionality is the fundamental organizing property of language, we show first that actions of the hands, face, head, and torso in sign languages directly reflect linguistic components, and illuminate certain aspects of compositional organization among them that are relevant for all languages, signed and spoken. Studies of emerging sign languages strengthen the approach by showing that the gradual recruitment of bodily articulators for linguistic functions directly maps the way in which a new language increases in complexity and efficiency over time. While compositional communication is almost exclusively restricted to humans, it is not restricted to language. In the spontaneous, intense emotional displays of athletes, different emotional states are correlated with actions of particular face and body features and feature groupings. These findings indicate a much more ancient communicative compositional capacity, and support a paradigm that includes visible body actions in the quest for core linguistic properties and their origins.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wendy Sandler
- Sign Language Research Laboratory, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel
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31
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Abstract
A key step in understanding the evolution of human language involves unravelling the origins of language's syntactic structure. One approach seeks to reduce the core of syntax in humans to a single principle of recursive combination, merge, for which there is no evidence in other species. We argue for an alternative approach. We review evidence that beneath the staggering complexity of human syntax, there is an extensive layer of nonproductive, nonhierarchical syntax that can be fruitfully compared to animal call combinations. This is the essential groundwork that must be explored and integrated before we can elucidate, with sufficient precision, what exactly made it possible for human language to explode its syntactic capacity, transitioning from simple nonproductive combinations to the unrivalled complexity that we now have.
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Affiliation(s)
- Simon W. Townsend
- Department of Comparative Linguistics, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
- Department of Psychology, University of Warwick, Coventry, United Kingdom
| | - Sabrina Engesser
- Department of Comparative Linguistics, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Sabine Stoll
- Psycholinguistics Laboratory, Department of Comparative Linguistics, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Klaus Zuberbühler
- Institute of Biology, University of Neuchatel, Neuchatel, Switzerland
- School of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, United Kingdom
| | - Balthasar Bickel
- Department of Comparative Linguistics, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
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32
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Coye C, Ouattara K, Arlet ME, Lemasson A, Zuberbühler K. Flexible use of simple and combined calls in female Campbell's monkeys. Anim Behav 2018. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2018.05.014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
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33
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Engesser S, Ridley AR, Manser MB, Manser A, Townsend SW. Internal acoustic structuring in pied babbler recruitment cries specifies the form of recruitment. Behav Ecol 2018. [DOI: 10.1093/beheco/ary088] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Sabrina Engesser
- Animal Behaviour, Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Amanda R Ridley
- Centre for Evolutionary Biology, School of Animal Biology, The University of Western Australia, Stirling Highway, Crawley, Australia
- Percy FitzPatrick Institute, University of Cape Town, University Avenue, Rondebosch, South Africa
| | - Marta B Manser
- Animal Behaviour, Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Andri Manser
- Institute of Integrative Biology, University of Liverpool, Crown Street, Liverpool, UK
| | - Simon W Townsend
- Animal Behaviour, Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse, Zurich, Switzerland
- Department of Psychology, University of Warwick, University Road, Coventry, UK
- Comparative Communication and Cognition Group, Department of Comparative Linguistics, University of Zurich, Plattenstrasse, Zurich, Switzerland
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34
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Griesser M, Wheatcroft D, Suzuki TN. From bird calls to human language: exploring the evolutionary drivers of compositional syntax. Curr Opin Behav Sci 2018. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cobeha.2017.11.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
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35
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36
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Lima SGC, Sousa-Lima RS, Tokumaru RS, Nogueira-Filho SLG, Nogueira SSC. Vocal complexity and sociality in spotted paca (Cuniculus paca). PLoS One 2018; 13:e0190961. [PMID: 29364898 PMCID: PMC5783385 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0190961] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/08/2017] [Accepted: 12/22/2017] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
The evolution of sociality is related to many ecological factors that act on animals as selective forces, thus driving the formation of groups. Group size will depend on the payoffs of group living. The Social Complexity Hypothesis for Communication (SCHC) predicts that increases in group size will be related to increases in the complexity of the communication among individuals. This hypothesis, which was confirmed in some mammal societies, may be useful to trace sociality in the spotted paca (Cuniculus paca), a Neotropical caviomorph rodent reported as solitary. There are, however, sightings of groups in the wild, and farmers easily form groups of spotted paca in captivity. Thus, we aimed to describe the acoustic repertoire of captive spotted paca to test the SCHC and to obtain insights about the sociability of this species. Moreover, we aimed to verify the relationship between group size and acoustic repertoire size of caviomorph rodents, to better understand the evolution of sociality in this taxon. We predicted that spotted paca should display a complex acoustic repertoire, given their social behavior in captivity and group sightings in the wild. We also predicted that in caviomorph species the group size would increase with acoustic repertoire, supporting the SCHC. We performed a Linear Discriminant Analysis (LDA) based on acoustic parameters of the vocalizations recorded. In addition, we applied an independent contrasts approach to investigate sociality in spotted paca following the social complexity hypothesis, independent of phylogeny. Our analysis showed that the spotted paca's acoustic repertoire contains seven vocal types and one mechanical signal. The broad acoustic repertoire of the spotted paca might have evolved given the species' ability to live in groups. The relationship between group size and the size of the acoustic repertoires of caviomorph species was confirmed, providing additional support for the SCHC in yet another group of diverse mammals-caviomorph rodents.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stella G. C. Lima
- Laboratório de Bioacústica, Departamento de Fisiologia e Comportamento / Programa de Pós-Graduação em Psicobiologia, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte, Natal, RN, Brazil
| | - Renata S. Sousa-Lima
- Laboratório de Bioacústica, Departamento de Fisiologia e Comportamento / Programa de Pós-Graduação em Psicobiologia, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte, Natal, RN, Brazil
| | - Rosana S. Tokumaru
- Departamento de Psicologia Social e do Desenvolvimento, Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo, Vitória, ES, Brazil
| | - Sérgio L. G. Nogueira-Filho
- Laboratório de Etologia Aplicada, Departamento de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Estadual de Santa Cruz, Ilhéus, BA, Brazil
| | - Selene S. C. Nogueira
- Laboratório de Etologia Aplicada, Departamento de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Estadual de Santa Cruz, Ilhéus, BA, Brazil
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Hernandez C, Sabin M, Riede T. Rats concatenate 22 kHz and 50 kHz calls into a single utterance. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2017; 220:814-821. [PMID: 28250176 DOI: 10.1242/jeb.151720] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/17/2016] [Accepted: 12/13/2016] [Indexed: 01/08/2023]
Abstract
Traditionally, the ultrasonic vocal repertoire of rats is differentiated into 22 kHz and 50 kHz calls, two categories that contain multiple different call types. Although both categories have different functions, they are sometimes produced in the same behavioral context. Here, we investigated the peripheral mechanisms that generate sequences of calls from both categories. Male rats, either sexually experienced or naïve, were exposed to an estrous female. The majority of sexually naïve male rats produced 22 kHz and 50 kHz calls on their first encounter with a female. We recorded subglottal pressure and electromyographic activity of laryngeal muscles and found that male rats sometimes concatenate long 22 kHz calls and 50 kHz trill calls into an utterance produced during a single breath. The qualitatively different laryngeal motor patterns for both call types were produced serially during the same breathing cycle. The finding demonstrates flexibility in the laryngeal-respiratory coordination during ultrasonic vocal production, which has not been previously documented physiologically in non-human mammals. Since only naïve males produced the 22 kHz-trills, it is possible that the production is experience dependent.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christine Hernandez
- College of Veterinary Medicine, Midwestern University, 19555 N 59th Ave, Glendale, AZ 85308, USA
| | - Mark Sabin
- Arizona College of Osteopathic Medicine, Midwestern University, 19555 N 59th Ave, Glendale, AZ 85308, USA
| | - Tobias Riede
- College of Veterinary Medicine, Midwestern University, 19555 N 59th Ave, Glendale, AZ 85308, USA .,Arizona College of Osteopathic Medicine, Midwestern University, 19555 N 59th Ave, Glendale, AZ 85308, USA.,Department of Physiology, Midwestern University, 19555 N 59th Ave, Glendale, AZ 85308, USA
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Suzuki TN, Wheatcroft D, Griesser M. Wild Birds Use an Ordering Rule to Decode Novel Call Sequences. Curr Biol 2017; 27:2331-2336.e3. [PMID: 28756952 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2017.06.031] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/02/2017] [Revised: 05/15/2017] [Accepted: 06/12/2017] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
Abstract
The generative power of human language depends on grammatical rules, such as word ordering, that allow us to produce and comprehend even novel combinations of words [1-3]. Several species of birds and mammals produce sequences of calls [4-6], and, like words in human sentences, their order may influence receiver responses [7]. However, it is unknown whether animals use call ordering to extract meaning from truly novel sequences. Here, we use a novel experimental approach to test this in a wild bird species, the Japanese tit (Parus minor). Japanese tits are attracted to mobbing a predator when they hear conspecific alert and recruitment calls ordered as alert-recruitment sequences [7]. They also approach in response to recruitment calls of heterospecific individuals in mixed-species flocks [8, 9]. Using experimental playbacks, we assess their responses to artificial sequences in which their own alert calls are combined into different orderings with heterospecific recruitment calls. We find that Japanese tits respond similarly to mixed-species alert-recruitment call sequences and to their own alert-recruitment sequences. Importantly, however, tits rarely respond to mixed-species sequences in which the call order is reversed. Thus, Japanese tits extract a compound meaning from novel call sequences using an ordering rule. These results demonstrate a new parallel between animal communication systems and human language, opening new avenues for exploring the evolution of ordering rules and compositionality in animal vocal sequences.
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Affiliation(s)
- Toshitaka N Suzuki
- Center for Ecological Research, Kyoto University, 2-509-3 Hirano, Otsu, Shiga 520-2113, Japan; Department of Evolutionary Studies of Biosystems, SOKENDAI (The Graduate University for Advanced Studies), Hayama, Kanagawa 240-0193, Japan.
| | - David Wheatcroft
- Department of Animal Ecology, Uppsala University, Norbyvägen 18D, 75236 Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Michael Griesser
- Department of Anthropology, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, 8057 Zürich, Switzerland; Institute of Environmental Sciences, Jagiellonian University, Gronostajowa 7, 30-387 Krakow, Poland
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Moore RK, Marxer R, Thill S. Vocal Interactivity in-and-between Humans, Animals, and Robots. Front Robot AI 2016. [DOI: 10.3389/frobt.2016.00061] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/01/2023] Open
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Meaningful call combinations and compositional processing in the southern pied babbler. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2016; 113:5976-81. [PMID: 27155011 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1600970113] [Citation(s) in RCA: 70] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Language's expressive power is largely attributable to its compositionality: meaningful words are combined into larger/higher-order structures with derived meaning. Despite its importance, little is known regarding the evolutionary origins and emergence of this syntactic ability. Although previous research has shown a rudimentary capability to combine meaningful calls in primates, because of a scarcity of comparative data, it is unclear to what extent analog forms might also exist outside of primates. Here, we address this ambiguity and provide evidence for rudimentary compositionality in the discrete vocal system of a social passerine, the pied babbler (Turdoides bicolor). Natural observations and predator presentations revealed that babblers produce acoustically distinct alert calls in response to close, low-urgency threats and recruitment calls when recruiting group members during locomotion. On encountering terrestrial predators, both vocalizations are combined into a "mobbing sequence," potentially to recruit group members in a dangerous situation. To investigate whether babblers process the sequence in a compositional way, we conducted systematic experiments, playing back the individual calls in isolation as well as naturally occurring and artificial sequences. Babblers reacted most strongly to mobbing sequence playbacks, showing a greater attentiveness and a quicker approach to the loudspeaker, compared with individual calls or control sequences. We conclude that the sequence constitutes a compositional structure, communicating information on both the context and the requested action. Our work supports previous research suggesting combinatoriality as a viable mechanism to increase communicative output and indicates that the ability to combine and process meaningful vocal structures, a basic syntax, may be more widespread than previously thought.
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Suzuki TN, Wheatcroft D, Griesser M. Experimental evidence for compositional syntax in bird calls. Nat Commun 2016; 7:10986. [PMID: 26954097 PMCID: PMC4786783 DOI: 10.1038/ncomms10986] [Citation(s) in RCA: 109] [Impact Index Per Article: 13.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/20/2015] [Accepted: 02/05/2016] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
Human language can express limitless meanings from a finite set of words based on combinatorial rules (i.e., compositional syntax). Although animal vocalizations may be comprised of different basic elements (notes), it remains unknown whether compositional syntax has also evolved in animals. Here we report the first experimental evidence for compositional syntax in a wild animal species, the Japanese great tit (Parus minor). Tits have over ten different notes in their vocal repertoire and use them either solely or in combination with other notes. Experiments reveal that receivers extract different meanings from 'ABC' (scan for danger) and 'D' notes (approach the caller), and a compound meaning from 'ABC-D' combinations. However, receivers rarely scan and approach when note ordering is artificially reversed ('D-ABC'). Thus, compositional syntax is not unique to human language but may have evolved independently in animals as one of the basic mechanisms of information transmission.
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Affiliation(s)
- Toshitaka N Suzuki
- Department of Evolutionary Studies of Biosystems, SOKENDAI (The Graduate University for Advanced Studies), Kamiyamaguchi 1560-35, Hayama, Kanagawa 240-0193, Japan.,Department of Life Science, Rikkyo University, Nishi-Ikebukuro 3-34-1, Toshima, Tokyo 171-8501, Japan
| | - David Wheatcroft
- Department of Ecology and Genetics, Uppsala University, Norbyvägen 18D, SE-752 36 Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Michael Griesser
- Anthropological Institute and Museum, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, 8057 Zürich, Switzerland
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Genty E, Neumann C, Zuberbühler K. Bonobos modify communication signals according to recipient familiarity. Sci Rep 2015; 5:16442. [PMID: 26552655 PMCID: PMC4639733 DOI: 10.1038/srep16442] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/02/2015] [Accepted: 10/14/2015] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Human and nonhuman primate communication differs in various ways. In particular, humans base communicative efforts on mutual knowledge and conventions shared between interlocutors. In this study, we experimentally tested whether bonobos (Pan paniscus), a close relative to humans, are able to take into account the familiarity, i.e. the shared interaction history, when communicating with a human partner. In five experimental conditions we found that subjects took the recipients' attentional state and their own communicative effectiveness into account by adjusting signal production accordingly. More importantly, in case of communicative failure, subjects repeated previously successful signals more often with a familiar than unfamiliar recipient, with whom they had no previous interactions, and elaborated by switching to new signals more with the unfamiliar than the familiar one, similar to what has previously been found in two year-old children. We discuss these findings in relation to the human capacity to establish common ground between interlocutors, a crucial aspect of human cooperative communication.
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Affiliation(s)
- Emilie Genty
- Department of Comparative Cognition, Institute of Biology, University of Neuchâtel, rue Emile Argand 11, 2000 Neuchâtel, Switzerland
| | - Christof Neumann
- Department of Comparative Cognition, Institute of Biology, University of Neuchâtel, rue Emile Argand 11, 2000 Neuchâtel, Switzerland
| | - Klaus Zuberbühler
- Department of Comparative Cognition, Institute of Biology, University of Neuchâtel, rue Emile Argand 11, 2000 Neuchâtel, Switzerland
- School of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, KY16 9JP, Scotland (UK)
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Rohrmeier M, Zuidema W, Wiggins GA, Scharff C. Principles of structure building in music, language and animal song. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2015; 370:20140097. [PMID: 25646520 PMCID: PMC4321138 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2014.0097] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Human language, music and a variety of animal vocalizations constitute ways of sonic communication that exhibit remarkable structural complexity. While the complexities of language and possible parallels in animal communication have been discussed intensively, reflections on the complexity of music and animal song, and their comparisons, are underrepresented. In some ways, music and animal songs are more comparable to each other than to language as propositional semantics cannot be used as indicator of communicative success or wellformedness, and notions of grammaticality are less easily defined. This review brings together accounts of the principles of structure building in music and animal song. It relates them to corresponding models in formal language theory, the extended Chomsky hierarchy (CH), and their probabilistic counterparts. We further discuss common misunderstandings and shortcomings concerning the CH and suggest ways to move beyond. We discuss language, music and animal song in the context of their function and motivation and further integrate problems and issues that are less commonly addressed in the context of language, including continuous event spaces, features of sound and timbre, representation of temporality and interactions of multiple parallel feature streams. We discuss these aspects in the light of recent theoretical, cognitive, neuroscientific and modelling research in the domains of music, language and animal song.
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Affiliation(s)
- Martin Rohrmeier
- Institut für Kunst- und Musikwissenschaft, Technische Universität Dresden, August-Bebel-Straße 20, 01219 Dresden, Germany
| | - Willem Zuidema
- ILLC, University of Amsterdam, PO Box 94242, 1090 CE Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Geraint A Wiggins
- School of Electronic Engineering and Computer Science, Queen Mary University of London, Mile End Road, London E1 4FZ, UK
| | - Constance Scharff
- Animal Behavior, Freie Universität Berlin, Takustraße 6, 14195 Berlin, Germany
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Zuberbühler K. Linguistic capacity of non‐human animals. WILEY INTERDISCIPLINARY REVIEWS. COGNITIVE SCIENCE 2015; 6:313-21. [DOI: 10.1002/wcs.1338] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/03/2014] [Revised: 10/09/2014] [Accepted: 11/07/2014] [Indexed: 11/07/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Klaus Zuberbühler
- Department of Comparative CognitionUniversity of NeuchatelNeuchatelSwitzerland
- School of Psychology & NeuroscienceUniversity of St AndrewsSt AndrewsUK
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Hedwig D, Mundry R, Robbins MM, Boesch C. Contextual correlates of syntactic variation in mountain and western gorilla close-distance vocalizations: Indications for lexical or phonological syntax? Anim Cogn 2014; 18:423-35. [DOI: 10.1007/s10071-014-0812-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/12/2014] [Revised: 09/22/2014] [Accepted: 09/25/2014] [Indexed: 10/24/2022]
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Kershenbaum A, Bowles AE, Freeberg TM, Jin DZ, Lameira AR, Bohn K. Animal vocal sequences: not the Markov chains we thought they were. Proc Biol Sci 2014; 281:20141370. [PMID: 25143037 PMCID: PMC4150325 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2014.1370] [Citation(s) in RCA: 60] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/06/2014] [Accepted: 07/24/2014] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Many animals produce vocal sequences that appear complex. Most researchers assume that these sequences are well characterized as Markov chains (i.e. that the probability of a particular vocal element can be calculated from the history of only a finite number of preceding elements). However, this assumption has never been explicitly tested. Furthermore, it is unclear how language could evolve in a single step from a Markovian origin, as is frequently assumed, as no intermediate forms have been found between animal communication and human language. Here, we assess whether animal taxa produce vocal sequences that are better described by Markov chains, or by non-Markovian dynamics such as the 'renewal process' (RP), characterized by a strong tendency to repeat elements. We examined vocal sequences of seven taxa: Bengalese finches Lonchura striata domestica, Carolina chickadees Poecile carolinensis, free-tailed bats Tadarida brasiliensis, rock hyraxes Procavia capensis, pilot whales Globicephala macrorhynchus, killer whales Orcinus orca and orangutans Pongo spp. The vocal systems of most of these species are more consistent with a non-Markovian RP than with the Markovian models traditionally assumed. Our data suggest that non-Markovian vocal sequences may be more common than Markov sequences, which must be taken into account when evaluating alternative hypotheses for the evolution of signalling complexity, and perhaps human language origins.
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Affiliation(s)
- Arik Kershenbaum
- National Institute for Mathematical and Biological Synthesis, Knoxville, TN, USA
| | - Ann E Bowles
- Hubbs SeaWorld Research Institute, San Diego, CA 92109, USA
| | - Todd M Freeberg
- Department of Psychology, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, USA
| | - Dezhe Z Jin
- Department of Physics and the Center for Neural Engineering, Penn State University, University Park, PA, USA
| | - Adriano R Lameira
- Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics, University of Amsterdam, Sciencepark 904, 1098 XH, Amsterdam, The Netherlands Pongo Foundation, Papenhoeflaan 91, 3421 XN, Oudewater, The Netherlands
| | - Kirsten Bohn
- Department of Biological Sciences, Florida International University, Miami, FL, USA
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