Hich

1. What is Language
Design Features of Language
Human vs. Animal Communications
Lecturer: Danar A. Ibrahim
2023
Introduction to Linguistics
Soran University
Faculty of Arts
English Department
2nd
Stage

2. ▰ Linguistics
▰ What exactly is language?
▰ What it is meant by systematic?
▰ If we want to find out the distinguishes and similarities between Human and Animal
communication, we first need to understand what language is
▰ Language is a common commodity.
▰ Human beings manage to acquire a language ( and often more than one) language in
the first few years of life. We use it until shortly before we draw our last breath. (Deborah
Tannen)
▰ In short, language is the phenomenon that defines us as humans.
What is Language?
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The systematic study of language, a discipline which describes language in all its aspects
Everyday human needs

3. ▰ Humans communicate
▰ Language builds and cements our social relationships.
▰ It helps us to think and allows us to reflect .
▰ It is used to educate us and by us to educate others.
▰ Without language no war can be declared and no peace can be announced.
▰ No ships or babies can be named!
▰ Language is a vital area of study to better understand ourselves.
▰ Language functions a s tool for communication.
What is Language?
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They can wink, wave, smile and tap

4. ▰ Language system:
▰ System can be defined as the following:
▰ A system consists of a set of ‘things’ entities or parts.
▰ These are interconnected and interrelated in some way.
▰ There are rules and principles specifying how they are interconnected
▰ The parts of a system work together to do a job.
▰ Two types of system
▰ Closed system
▰ Open system
What is Language?
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Closed and open Which one is the language?
Has a finite membership
has a new membership from time to time

5. ▰ Language system:
▰ Closed system
▰ Open system
What is Language?
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in language, some systems are closed such as sound system.
While others are open such as lexical system (new words)
Phoneme
words
Morpheme
Clause
Phrase
Sentence/ utterance
Constituent
Structure of
Language

6. What is Language?
▰ Language is a specialized sound signaling system which seems to be genetically
programmed to develop in humans. (Jean Aitchison)
▰ When we study human language , we are approaching what some might call the
“ human essence” the distinctive qualities of mind that are, so far as we know,
unique to man. ( Noam Chomsky)
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7. ▰ Charles Hocket in 1960’s suggested a useful approach to make a list of Design
Features to realize the two following points:
▰ A definition of language should be based on these design features.
▰ To consider whether they are shared by other animals.
Human VS. Animal Communication
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8. 1. Use of sound signals: Vocal auditory channel
▰is perhaps the most obvious feature of a language. Sounds are made with the vocal
organs and hearing mechanism receives them.
▰ Communicative signals are intentional and carry meaning
▰ I say to you that I am here to teach the class.
▰ Informative signals are non intentional but still carry meaning
▰ I am sitting at the desk in front of the room.
▰ Use of sounds is in no way unique to humans.
Design Features
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9. 1. Use of sound signals: Animals
▰ They communicate through varieties of ways e.g. crabs wave their claws , bees
have a complicated series of dance
▰ while dolphins, birds, monkeys, grasshoppers, cows and many other species use
sounds.
▰ Animals can be informative, a bird may suddenly fly after seeing a predator, which
means the bird must be frightened
▰ Animals can be communicative, a bird may make a loud squawk at the sight of a
predator. ( communication: Hey everyone, look out! Something is going to eat us!)
▰ Advantages
Design Features
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Used in dark, at distance, leave body free for other activities.

10. 2. Arbitrariness:
▰ In human language, There is no distinct or natural relationship between a word’s
shape and its meaning.
▰ A written word doesn’t look like its shape
“Star” elephant
▰ Onomatopoeic words are exceptional, such as “quack- quack, bleat and moo”
▰ Animal signals are strongly correlated with the messages they want to convey.
▰ For example a cat sounds hiss, grrr, meow, screech…etc each has a specific
meaning.
▰ a cat arch its back, spit and ready to pounce
Design Features
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A simulate attitude in animals

11. 3.Cultural Transmission:
▰ Humans acquire their language in a long process from the environment they are
brought up in.
▰ It is culturally transmitted
▰ Many animals automatically communicate without learning.
▰ their communication systems are genetically inbuilt. It is instinctual, inborn
▰ a meow is meow wherever.
▰ Bee dances
▰ a chaffinch in a soundproof room
Design Features
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The same in bee colonies everywhere, with small variations
Developed an abnormal song
Yet by only exposing to
an occasional recording
It developed normally

12. 3.Cultural Transmission:
▰ 7 week window for birds: if a bird is not exposed to bird song in the first 7 weeks it
can still sing but in an abnormal way.
▰ 7 year window for children: if a child is not exposed to language within the first 7
years it will not learn any language at all.
Design Features
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13. 4. Duality:
▰ Animals use vocal signals have a stock of basic sounds.
▰ A cow a chicken A fox
▰ A dolphin, gorillas and chimpanzees
▰ Each sound is used only once!
▰ The number of messages is equal to the number of basic sounds!
▰ Human language
▰ Each sound is meaning less in isolation
Design Features
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Vary according to species
Has under ten Has around twenty Has over twenty
Has between twenty and thirty
Each language has got a stock of sounds (phonemes) the average is between thirty
and forty

14. 4. Duality:
▰ Each language has two levels : distinct sound & distinct meaning
▰ Physical level: at which we can produce individual sounds e.g. n,b,i
▰ Meaning level: when sounds are combined together e.g. bin, nib
▰ For example, f, d, g, o
▰ Economical feature: animal communicative signals are fixed and cannot be broken
into levels e.g. woof can not be become oofw
▰ Songbird example each note is meaningless but are meaningful in combination
Design Features
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Duality
Meaningless in isolation Fog, dog, god

15. 5. Displacement:
▰ Human language refers to the past, present and future.
▰ yesterday, I saw a movie.
▰ Today, I am visiting my parents
▰ Next week, I am going on vacation.
▰ Things that doesn’t exist in real life e.g. Superman, batman
▰ human can talk about someone or something which is far away.
Design Features
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Displacement
Unique to
human

16. 5. Displacement:
▰ Animal communication is about here and now.
▰ A bird utters its danger cry only when danger is present!
▰ meow, meow!! I am hungry now ( not next week)
▰ Bees language: When a worker bee finds a source of nectar she returns to the hive
to perform a complicated dance which informs the other bees of its location:
▰ A ‘round dance’
▰ A ‘waggle dance’
▰ This is limited to only nectar!
Design Features
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Immediate environment
Resemble to human baby cry
the nectar is close to the hive
in which she wiggles her tail from side to side if it is far away

17. 5. Displacement:
Design Features
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18. 6. Creativity ( productivity):
▰ Humans are capable of creating novel expressions for new objects
▰ A person can utter a sentence never been said before
▰ A language user can manipulate his linguistic resources.
▰ E.g. At breakfast one can say “ this is a good coffee” on one day “ is this coffee or
tea” on the next day “ it would be cheaper to drink milk” on the next…
▰ Everyday new utterances
Design Features
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Infinitively
Can still be understood
Open-endedness, productivity
Humans not obliged to same the same thing every time

19. 6. Creativity ( productivity):
▰ Animals have limited number of signals they can send or receive e.g. grasshopper can
make only 6 signals:
▰ 1. I am happy, life is good 2. I would like to make love.
▰ 3. you are transposing on my territory 4.she is mine
▰ 5. let’s make love 6. oh how nice to have made love
▰ They cannot produce any new signals to describe novel expressions
▰ e.g. a worker bee is able to communicate about the location of the nectar source but
it is unable if the location is really new.
▰ Clever vervet can make 36 vocal sounds, is obliged to do so again and again.
Design Features
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20. 7. Discreteness:
▰ Language consists of meaningful distinct sounds.
▰ P & b
▰ When they are a part of a language the difference is distinct.
▰ P & b in English
▰ Each sound in the language is treated in discrete.
▰ This property is called discreetness
Design Features
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The sounds used in language are distinct
Individually
Unique to human language
no big difference
pack , back the distinction of meaning is due to p & b

21. ▰ 8. Patterning:
▰ Human language is definitely not haphazard.
▰ Words and sounds are not randomly combined, they are well-defined patterns.
▰ Items, sounds or words are not juxtaposed randomly
▰ a,b,t
▰ burglar, loudly, sneezed , the
▰ the burglar sneezed loudly, loudly sneezed the burglar or the burglar loudly sneezed.
▰ Animal communication system is simple and has no internal organization.
Design Features
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Through rules and principles
bat and tab 2 possibilities only, abt or tba

22. ▰ Human language is a signaling system which uses sounds, which is shared by a
large number of animals .
▰ In A.C there is a connection between signals and messages sent, in H.C the
symbols are arbitrary.
▰ A.C system is genetically inbuilt but it is culturally transmitted in humans.
▰ Duality the organization of language into two layers and displacement the ability of
talking about present, past and future are rarely present in animals.
▰ Creativity the ability to create novel utterances is unique to humans
▰ Finally patterning and discreteness are also unique to human communication
Human VS. Animal Communication
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23. THANKS!
Questions?✋