The Language of Animals

One of the things that separate us as humans from the rest of the animal kingdom is
our use of language. This incredibly complex form of communicate has enabled us to
essentially pull ourselves out of the food chain and construct modern society as we
know it today. But animals have language too, right? After all, dogs bark, cats meow,
and birds chirp. Isnt that language? Interestingly, this is one of todays most
disputed topics in linguistics and biology, and while a great deal of research has
been done, the answer isnt very clear cut.

Many researchers feel that language is exclusively human. Noam Chomsky, one of
the most famous linguists of our time, theorized that language, with its complex
grammar structures and syntax, is something inherited genetically amongst humans
as a part of the evolution of the human brain. Charles Hocket, another linguist,
asserted that the underlying principles between human language and even the most
complex forms of communication between animals are not even related, despite
efforts to apply human language to mating and warning calls in animals. Language
among humans is not simply a reaction to their present environment, but can also
communicate abstract and hypothetical ideas about the past and future, and so it is
light years ahead of what animals are capable of communicating.

Communication amongst animals, on the other hand, is severely closed, limited to a
number of different stimuli. Several species, including chimpanzees and bonobos,
have been taught signs and lexigrams, and have learned to use these to
communicate, but with only a relatively small number of signs. Researchers have
turned to animals wild environment for clues as to whether they possess anything
that could be called a language. Con Slobodchikoff at Northern Arizona
University, who studies prairie dogs, is convinced that these small mammals do have
a very complex language, as they have different alarm calls for the various predators
who try to eat them, can describe the color of clothes, and can communicate about
the body style (tall, thin, or short) of a human being. Bottlenose dolphins have also
been observed to communicate age, gender, and personal identities through their
whistling, which can be heard by others at long distances underwater.

So while animal communication may resemble various parts of what make up
human language, as far as we can tell they do not have a language that is as complex
as ours. In that sense, they do not have language. But anyone who sees the
wagging tail of their pet dog or listens to owls at night knows that they do have an
interesting system of communication.


http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/animal-emotions/201212/dr-dolittle-the-
rescue-animals-do-indeed-have-language

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Animal_language