Year: 2020
Type: article
Abstract: Seyfarth, Cheney, and Marler (1980) were the first researchers to delineate a nonhuman animal communication system that seemed to include linguistic reference (signals with specific meanings).Arguments continue, however, over the use of linguistic terms as well as the specific nature of those calls.Frequently dismissed or ignored in the discussion of the usefulness of animal communication to the study of human language evolution is the wealth of data from the language research projects that show remarkable levels of symbolic behavior in animals reared in enriched, enculturated environments.These data show that the capacity for semantic communication systems is not unique to humans.Discussions surrounding semanticity and human language evolution would therefore benefit by switching focus to the environmental factors that support the expression of biologically extant semantic capacities.
Source: Animal Behavior and Cognition
Authors: Heidi Lyn, Jennie L. Christopher
Institution: University of South Alabama
Language: English
Subfield: Cultural Studies
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W3023181579