- Human Language Versus Animal Communication

- Non-Verbal Communication
Group 2: Tee Shu Min Nurul Nadia Daniel Koh

Human Language versus Animal Communication

Human Language

Definition of Language
Language is the human capacity for acquiring and using complex systems of communication.
A system of communication, medium of thought, a vehicle for literary expression.

 "humans acquire language (and non-humans do not) not because humans are (quantitatively) more intelligent, but because humans possess some species-specific mechanism (or mechanisms) which is a prerequisite of language-acquisition". Macphail (1982, cited by Pearce, 1987)

Human Language
Language is the most effective method of human communication. The term language is derived from the Latin word lingua meaning tongue. Human beings can talk of real or imaginary situations, places and objects far removed from their present surroundings and time

Human Language is in Organised Form

Grammar Rule (Word order)
Example: Take the words: ate, I and lunch Right : Wrong : Wrong : I ate lunch ate I lunch lunch ate I

 Language Rules and Meaning

Knowledge of language rules lets us change the meaning of our messages Examples: Dog bites man. Man bites dog.

Human Language is an Open Entity

New words or meanings may come into use. Example: the English word nice Now generally means pleasing, agreeable, polite, and kind. In the15th century it meant foolish, wanton, lascivious, and even wicked.

Functions of Human Language

to interact to give information

to express emotions

Features of Human Language

1.

Vocal-Auditory Channel

The standard human language occurs as a vocal (making sounds with the mouth) type of communication which is perceived by hearing it. Majority of human languages occur in the vocal-auditory channel as their basic mode of expression.

2. Broadcast Transmission and Directional Reception

The human language signal is sent out in all directions, while it is perceived in a limited direction.

3. Rapid Fading (Transitoriness)

Human language signal does not persist over time. Writing and audio-recordings can be used to record human language so that it can be recreated at a later time

Interchangeability
The speaker can both receive and broadcast the same signal.

Total Feedback
The speaker can hear themself speak and can monitor their language performance as they go.

Specialisation
The organs used for producing speech are specially adapted to that task.

Human lips, tongue, throat, etc. have been specialized into speech apparati instead of being merely the eating apparati

Semanticity
Specific signals can be matched with specific meanings
Example: in French, the word sel means a white, crystalline substance consisting of sodium and chlorine atoms. the same substance is matched with the English word salt.

anyone speaker of these languages will recognize that the signal sel or salt refers to the substance sodium chloride.

Arbitrariness
There is no necessary connection between the form of the signal and the thing being referred to.

Example: a four-legged domestic canine could be called as dog, perro (Spanish), inee (Japanese) and anjing (Malay)

Discreteness
The basic units of speech (such as sounds) can be categorized as belonging to distinct categories

Displacement
The speaker can talk about things which are not present, either spatially or temporally. Example: human language allows speakers to talk about the past and the future, as well as the present

Productivity
Human languages allow speakers to create novel, never-before-heard utterances that others can understand

Traditional Transmission
Human language is not something inborn. Although humans are probably born with an ability to do language, they must learn, or acquire, their native language from other speakers.

Duality of Patterning
The discrete parts of a language can be recombined in a systematic way to create new forms. The ability to recombine small units in different orders.

Animal Communication

Definition of Animal Communication

"the transmission of a signal from one animal to another such that the sender benefits, on average, from the

response of the recipient

Slater (1983)

 Animals also can communicate.

But their communication system differs from human communication.

Animal communication lacks flexibility and creativity.

 Their communication tradition is acquired genetically and not through learning.

Animal communication is merely a response to stimulus in the immediate environment

Types of Animal Communication

Chemical signals
- used by some very simple creatures, including protozoa

Smell (odor) - related to chemical signals, eg. pheromones attract, skunk secretions repel

 Touch

Movement

Posture - eg. dogs, geese

 Facial gestures - eg. dogs snarling

Visual signals
- eg. Feathers

Sound - eg. very many vertebrate and invertebrate calls

Functions of Animal Communication

attract (especially mates)
repel (especially competitors or enemies) signal aggression or submission advertise species warn of predators

communicate about the environment or the availability of food

Animal communication systems lack of the following features:-

Semanticity Arbitrariness

Discreteness
Displacement Productivity

Differences between Human Language and Animal Communication

Signs
Animals are born knowing how to form specific signs to communicate with one another.

Humans are born with the capacity to learn how to speak and be

creative with signs.

 If an animal makes a sign, then it has one meaning and one meaning alone.
Human signs have multiple meanings because humans interpret one sign to mean many things

Stimuli
Animal communication does

not extend much further than

inborn responses to specific stimuli that signal one

reaction or another.

Human communication extends much further beyond stimuli and response.

Humor
Animals do not have the instinct to communicate with one another in a humorous or novel manner.

Humans have the inborn ability to creatively come up with humorous situations and interact with one another on a humorous level.

Messages
Animals can communicate with one another using only a set number of messages.

However, because of syntax, humans can put together words in endless ways.

Change
The determining force in the way animals change is the genetic processes that power evolution.

Humans change rapidly with the evolution of culture and the norms of the time.

 Human language and animal communication are vastly different from one another. Human language is more complex, with many hidden meanings in words and gestures, as well as many different symbols to express different ideas. Animal communication is much more straightforward and simpler than human language

Definition
The process of communication through sending and receiving wordless (mostly visual) messages between people

Non-verbal signals provide valuable feedback in oral communication. A lot can be said through gestures, body language or posture, by facial expression and eye contact. Non-verbal communication can include vocal sounds that are not words such as grunts, sighs, and whimpers.

Types of Non-Verbal Communication

1. Facial Expression 2. Gestures 3. Paralinguistic

5. Proxemics
6. Eye Gaze 7. Haptic 8. Appearance

4. Body Language and Postures

Facial Expression

The face is one the most important conveyor of emotional information.

A face can light up with enthusiasm, energy, and approval, express confusion or boredom, and scowl with displeasure.

Gestures
Deliberate movements and signals are an important way to communicate meaning without words. Common gestures include waving, pointing, and using fingers to indicate numeric amounts.

Paralinguistic
Paralinguistic refers to vocal communication that is separate from actual language.

This includes factors such as tone of voice, loudness, inflection and pitch.

Divided into:
Vocal characterizers

Examples: laugh, cry, yell, moan, whine, belch, yawn

 Vocal qualifiers Examples: volume, pitch, rhythm, tempo, and tone

 Vocal Segregates Examples: un-huh, shh, uh, ooh, mmmh, humm, eh

Body Language & Postures

Posture and movement can also convey a great deal on information. Our body postures can create a feeling of warm openness or cold rejection.

 A posture of arms crossed on the chest portrays a feeling of inflexibility. The action of gathering up one's materials and reaching for a purse signals a desire to end the conversation

Proxemics
Refers to how people use space to communicate We can consider that this personal space is like a bubble that one doesn't want invaded

Eye Gaze
Eyes also play an important role in non-verbal communication. The eyes are particularly expressive in telegraphing joy, sadness, anger, or confusion

Haptic
Means by which people and other animals communicate via touching. It is a component of nonverbal communication in interpersonal relationships, and vital in conveying physical intimacy.

Consist of:
Positive effect touches Playful touches Control touches Hybrid touches Task-related touches Accidental touches

Appearance
Our choice of color, clothing, hairstyles and other factors affecting appearance are also considered a means of nonverbal communication.

2 New Types of Non-Verbal Communication

 Emoticons
Examples: in emails and text messages

 Posting photos
Examples: on Facebook and other social media