Kanzi's Primal Language

Segerdahl, Pär; Fields, William M.

doi:10.1057/9780230513389

Cited by 45 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 0 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…Very young human babies make simple categorisations, for example between animate and inanimate objects, long before they have "joined the discourse community" (e.g. Spelke and Kinzler 2007). While the most basic living organisms apparently use receptors to identify and respond to differential stimuli using a narrow range of predictable responses, other creatures, including mammals, birds and insects make use not only of instinctual reflexes but also of learning (Hoffmeyer 2007).…”

Section: Ways Of Knowingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Viewers on YouTube can see examples of recent comparisons of humans and chimpanzees undertaking these sequencing and memorising tasks involving Arabic numerals appearing on a computer screen (The Telegraph, no date), where the claim that the chimps "cannot deal with symbolic content" is, to say the least, called into question (see also Segerdahl et al 2005). Lyn reports "on mental representations and categories in symbol use from two bonobos (Pan paniscus), " concluding from her study that "apes spontaneously create a complex, hierarchical, web of representations when exposed to a symbol system" (2007,461).…”

Section: Ways Of Knowingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Jackie Chappell drew my attention to two of the studies cited (Bates et al 2007;Spelke and Kinzler 2007). Correspondence with Derek Layder about his phrase 'variegated ontology' has been helpful in confirming the applicability of this concept beyond the social world.…”

Section: Acknowledgementsmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Cats and categories — reply to Teubert

Sealey

2014

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This paper is a response to the discussion article in Language and Dialogue 3:2 by Wolfgang Teubert, "Was there a cat in the garden? Knowledge between discourse and the monadic self. " Teubert deals there with a number of themes, including a discussion of some philosophical issues raised by Roy Harris and Martin Heidegger. In my response, I am less concerned with those aspects of the article than with the claims made by Teubert about the contrasts between humans and other animals. I respond to Teubert's position on the status and origins of categories of animals from a realist perspective, with reference to evidence from the natural sciences and anthropology. I suggest that Teubert's thesis rests on a number of errors, including an over-estimation of the power of discourse, an under-estimation of the range of sensory and semiotic perception available to different kinds of creatures, and a lack of attention to contemporary developments in relevant ethological research.

show abstract

Section: Ways Of Knowingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Ways Of Knowingmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Cats and categories — reply to Teubert

Sealey

2014

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Aunque su propuesta de rasgos presenta problemas serios (cf. Cadková, 2015;Longa, 2012;Oller, 2000;Wacewicz y Zywiczynski, 2015), ha sido enormemente influyente, llegando a originar propuestas alternativas erigidas directamente a partir de la suya (Oller, 2000;Segerdahl et al, 2005). Según Hockett, la mayoría de los rasgos de diseño no eran propiedad exclusiva del lenguaje, pudiendo rastrearse en la comunicación de muy variadas especies animales; solamente unos pocos rasgos eran privativos de él.…”

Section: Introductionunclassified

Los sistemas combinatorios animales no tienen dualidad: Hockett tenía razón

Martínez¹

2015

Pragmalinguistica

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

RESUMEN:La dualidad o doble articulación es una propiedad fundamental del lenguaje. Hace medio siglo, Charles Hockett comparó la comunicación animal y el lenguaje con su conocido sistema de rasgos de diseño, y sostuvo que la dualidad era uno de los pocos rasgos ausentes en la comunicación animal. Desde entonces, numerosos autores, en especial lingüistas, han atribuido esa propiedad a algunos sistemas comunicativos animales que muestran una naturaleza combinatoria, en los cuales las señales se forman mediante la unión de unidades menores. Este artículo analiza críticamente esas propuestas; en concreto, defiende que la naturaleza jerárquico-combinatoria de esos sistemas es muy diferente a la del lenguaje, por lo que carecen de dualidad. Por ello, el trabajo reivindica la posición de Hockett, sosteniendo que estaba plenamente acertado cuando defendía que la dualidad es un rasgo inexistente en la comunicación animal. ABSTRACT:Duality of patterning is a central property of language. Half a century ago, Charles Hockett compared animal communication and language by means of his well-known system of design features, and contended that duality was one of the few features animal communication was not endowed with. Since then, a number of scholars (especially, linguists), have considered duality to exist in some animal communication systems which exhibit a combinatorial nature, in such a way that signals are composed of smaller units. This article critically discusses those proposals; more concretely, it makes the point that the hierarchical-combinatorial procedure found in animal combinatorial systems greatly differs from that found in language, the result being that those systems lack duality. Therefore, the paper vindicates Hockett's position, by arguing that he was fully right when he asserted that duality is absent from animal communication. RÉSUMÉ:La double articulation est une qualité fondamentale du langage. Il y a un demi-siècle, Charles Hockett a comparé la communication animale et le langage avec son système de traits de dessin, et a soutenu que la dualité était l'une des quelques fonctionnalités manquantes dans la communication animale. Dès lors, de nombreux auteurs, notamment des linguistes, ont attribué cette qualité à certains systèmes de communication des animaux montrant une nature combinatoire, dans lesquels les signaux sont formés par l'assemblage d'unités mineures. Cet article analyse ces propositions de façon critique; en particulier, il soutient l'argument que la nature hiérarchique-combinatoire de ces systèmes diffère considé-rablement de celle du langage, ne possédant pas de double articulation. Par conséquent, ce travail justifie la position de Hockett, considérant qu'il avait tout à fait raison lorsqu'il soutenait que la double articulation est une caractéris-tique absente dans la communication animale.PALABRAS CLAVES: dualidad o doble articulación; pleremas y cenemas; comunicación animal; sistema jerár-quico-combinatorio; referencialidad.KEY WORDS: duality of patterning; pleremes and cenemes; ani...

show abstract

“…In the three decades since Kanzi was born, he has been extensively studied. Through a language-rich world, Kanzi has developed linguistic competencies that are beyond that of any other ape yet studied (Segerdahl et al 2005). In addition to his receptive competence for spoken English, he has been shown to modulate some of his vocalizations in approximations of human words (Taglialatela et al, 2003).…”

Section: Kanzi-past and Presentmentioning

confidence: 99%

A multimodal analysis of the communicative utterances of a language competent bonobo (Pan paniscus)

Musgrave¹

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Chapter 1: Introduction Chapter 2: Literature Review 10 Chapter 3: Methods Chapter 4: Results Chapter 5: Discussion Chapter 6: Conclusions Bibliography Appendix 1: Coding Data them, and for always having my back. Your unwavering support, whether from abroad or right on campus, was always a source of great comfort and security in an otherwise tumultuous couple years for me outside of the classroom. I could not have chosen a better environment or advisor with which to pursue my masters. Perhaps most importantly, I must thank all the families that, when put together, comprise my one family. To my Mom, who may at one time have said I might not be made for scientific work, thank you for your continued emotional and financial support. To my Dad, thank you for your emotional support and continued amazement at both my studies and this specific research. To Rye, Claire, and Sophie, thank you for making me grow up and for teaching me how to take responsibility. To the Perkins family, thank you for making Iowa actually feel like my home. Thank you for the dinners, the holidays, and your constant questions which helped me develop and refine my ideas about apes and how to communicate about them. And thank you for raising such a wonderful daughter, who has kept me sane while researching and writing. Lastly, I have to thank, with all my heart, Kanzi and his family of bonobos because without them none of this would have been possible. My time with them has taught me more about what it means to be human, and how to be a good person, than any amount of formal education could even dream of imparting on me. They have given me a home, friendship, and a purpose for over six years. It was with great anxiety that I took on this project, knowing that any lapses, problems, or misjudgments would have more consequences for v them than for me going forward. It was this thought that helped to propel me through this project. To Kanzi, even though you threw hot oatmeal all over me that one time; Panbanisha, with your shyness and depths of caring in your eyes; Nyota, for your skills with the ladies and the way that, if no one was looking, you could be so sweet to me; Elikya, for how much more you understand than you are ever given credit for; Maisha, with your simple overriding desire to be loved and nothing more; Teco, for your nap times and sleepy hugs; Matata, with your constant plotting, planning, and conniving and for taking me under your wing and trying to teach me how to behave the right way; P-suke, for your real smile, not the one you were taught to perform, and for your children; and lastly Nathan, for everything, but especially for teaching me how to tickle. Thank you.

show abstract

Kanzi's Primal Language

Cited by 45 publications

References 0 publications

Cats and categories — reply to Teubert

Cats and categories — reply to Teubert

Los sistemas combinatorios animales no tienen dualidad: Hockett tenía razón

A multimodal analysis of the communicative utterances of a language competent bonobo (Pan paniscus)

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About