3 ms·

What animals use language?

by yanslookup 9y ago

Y-bar 9y ago
Almost all of them. Which animals does not communicate verbally or with gestures or similar language constructs?
- chrisper 9y ago
  Rainworms
- pluma 9y ago
  Careful there with the phrasing. When we talk about animals communicating we generally mean animals using signals (e.g. to indicate the presence of a predator or a source of food). I'm not aware of any reliably documented case of animals communicating abstract concepts. There is some research with great apes that makes the rounds every now and then but the findings are dubious at best as there's a lot of conflict of interest, handwaving and wishful thinking (see Koko "mourning" when told that Robin Williams died because they met once at some point in the past). EDIT: Also it's probably a good idea to limit the conversation to social animals. Solitary animals don't have much use for communication other than challenging the competition and impressing potential mates -- insert celebrity joke here.
  - jaredandrews 9y ago
    > I'm not aware of any reliably documented case of animals communicating abstract concepts. I guess this is difficult to prove. I'm not sure if it matches with the definition of "abstract concepts" but I was reading earlier today that Bottlenose Dolphins "transmit cultural knowledge across generations".[0] So maybe yes? [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bottlenose_dolphin#Tool_use_and_culture https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bottlenose_dolphin#Tool_use_an...
    - pluma 9y ago
      As far as I can tell from that section this is more about show-and-tell. There's a difference between demonstrating something to teach it (mimicry) and using language to teach it (explanation). If I tell you that you can put a stick in a certain tree and get honey out, that's different from me bringing you to that tree, putting a stick in it and showing you the honey (while being swarmed by angry bees but I digress).
  - Y-bar 9y ago
    The question was "language", not "abstract concepts". I am not aware of any modern definition of language that requires abstract concepts. Signals of many kinds are however certainly integral to language. Why are Jose discounted in your point of view?
    - pluma 9y ago
      Because when people say "language" they usually imply certain capabilities we have not yet observed in other animals, especially when talking about what humans have that other animals don't. It's similar to being able to use tools (which we've seen in many species) versus being able to create tools (which we've seen e.g. in certain corvids). The former is a significant first step but the later is what proves a certain amount of abstract thinking beyond the immediate here and now that goes far beyond mere instinct.
- yanslookup 9y ago
  Hmm I haven't really thought about this but I was hoping there was some new development in the understanding of animal communication. I'm not a linguist but as far as I understand communication is not language. Language is communication however. I guess I was hoping that this section of the language wikipedia didn't exist: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Language#Unique_status_of_human_language https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Language#Unique_status_of_huma....

What animals use language?

Y-bar 9y ago

Almost all of them. Which animals does not communicate verbally or with gestures or similar language constructs?

chrisper 9y ago
Rainworms
pluma 9y ago
Careful there with the phrasing. When we talk about animals communicating we generally mean animals using signals (e.g. to indicate the presence of a predator or a source of food). I'm not aware of any reliably documented case of animals communicating abstract concepts. There is some research with great apes that makes the rounds every now and then but the findings are dubious at best as there's a lot of conflict of interest, handwaving and wishful thinking (see Koko "mourning" when told that Robin Williams died because they met once at some point in the past). EDIT: Also it's probably a good idea to limit the conversation to social animals. Solitary animals don't have much use for communication other than challenging the competition and impressing potential mates -- insert celebrity joke here.
- jaredandrews 9y ago
  > I'm not aware of any reliably documented case of animals communicating abstract concepts. I guess this is difficult to prove. I'm not sure if it matches with the definition of "abstract concepts" but I was reading earlier today that Bottlenose Dolphins "transmit cultural knowledge across generations".[0] So maybe yes? [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bottlenose_dolphin#Tool_use_and_culture https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bottlenose_dolphin#Tool_use_an...
  - pluma 9y ago
    As far as I can tell from that section this is more about show-and-tell. There's a difference between demonstrating something to teach it (mimicry) and using language to teach it (explanation). If I tell you that you can put a stick in a certain tree and get honey out, that's different from me bringing you to that tree, putting a stick in it and showing you the honey (while being swarmed by angry bees but I digress).
- Y-bar 9y ago
  The question was "language", not "abstract concepts". I am not aware of any modern definition of language that requires abstract concepts. Signals of many kinds are however certainly integral to language. Why are Jose discounted in your point of view?
  - pluma 9y ago
    Because when people say "language" they usually imply certain capabilities we have not yet observed in other animals, especially when talking about what humans have that other animals don't. It's similar to being able to use tools (which we've seen in many species) versus being able to create tools (which we've seen e.g. in certain corvids). The former is a significant first step but the later is what proves a certain amount of abstract thinking beyond the immediate here and now that goes far beyond mere instinct.
yanslookup 9y ago
Hmm I haven't really thought about this but I was hoping there was some new development in the understanding of animal communication. I'm not a linguist but as far as I understand communication is not language. Language is communication however. I guess I was hoping that this section of the language wikipedia didn't exist: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Language#Unique_status_of_human_language https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Language#Unique_status_of_huma....