What can animal communication teach us about human language?

Abstract

Language has been considered by many to be uniquely human. Numerous theories for how it evolved have been proposed but rarely tested. The articles in this theme issue consider the extent to which aspects of language, such as vocal learning, phonology, syntax, semantics, intentionality, cognition and neurobiological adaptations, are shared with other animals. By adopting a comparative approach, insights into the mechanisms and origins of human language can be gained. While points of agreement exist among the authors, conflicting viewpoints are expressed on several issues, such as the presence of proto-syntax in animal communication, the neural basis of the Merge operation, and the neurogenetic changes necessary for vocal learning. Future comparative research in animal communication has the potential to teach us even more about the evolution, neurobiology and cognitive basis of human language. This article is part of the theme issue ‘What can animal communication teach us about human language?’

A Connectomic Hypothesis for the Hominization of the Brain

“…In addition to the described postnatal connectomic development, “glossogeny” manifested by the origin, development, and internalization of culture ( Vygotskiĭ and Cole 1978 ) — the “cultural brain”—develops together with the enhanced proclivity to communicate ( Fishbein et al. 2020 ) and to epigenetically shared culturally acquired knowledge with the human-specific teaching ability or pedagogy ( Premack and Premack 1996 ).…”

“…Interestingly, the structural storage capacity of neurons in different cortical areas based on rewiring, as indicated by the “filling fraction,” that is, the relative number of dendritic spines that could potentially be linked to nearby axonic terminations, increases along a cortical gradient from posterior (sensory) to anterior (association) areas ( Stepanyants et al. 2002 ; Elston 2003 ), that is, areas that are particularly expanded in humans relative to other mammals ( Fishbein et al. 2020 ).…”

“…2020 ). These events take place within the framework of a common brain organization ( Rakic 2009 ; Arcaro and Livingstone 2017 ) shared among the primate ancestors of modern humans ( Changeux 2017 ; Fishbein et al. 2020 ) and already structured on the basis of a rich set of genetic components—or “genetic envelope.”…”

Brevity is not a universal in animal communication: evidence for compression depends on the unit of analysis in small ape vocalizations

“…Exploring the universality of linguistic laws in animal models can help improve our understanding of the constraints on vocal production, and may provide insight into the processes that shape diversity in communication [13]. Such comparative approaches have been used to investigate Zipf's Law (not to be confused with Zipf's Law of abbreviation) wherein the frequency of a given word is proportional to its rank (meaning that the most commonly used word will occur approximately twice as often as the next most commonly used word [14]).…”

Evidence for Teaching in an Australian Songbird

“…In addition, complex birdsong and other animal communication systems appear to transmit much more information than previously suspected and could contain language-like structure ( Kershenbaum et al, 2014 ; Fishbein et al, 2020b ). In fact, many species display sophisticated cognitive abilities that antedate human language ( Fishbein et al, 2020a ). Nonetheless, mentalistic approaches by default exclude animal teachers since intentions are notoriously challenging to infer in animals.…”