1.

0 INTRODUCTION

Human language is just one kind of communication system; not every communication

system is a language (Hana, 2011). Animals have their own system when it comes to

communication but it is still not a language. While it is almost impossible to define language

as a whole, animal communication is simply defined as the signalling systems used by non-

human creatures (Trask, 2007). Parrots are vocal mimicry animals where they are able to

imitate human speech (Chakraborty, Walløe, Nedergaard, Fridel, Dabelsteen, Pakkenberg,

et al. , 2015). Therefore, I am against the assertion that a parrot can speak excellent English.

In the process of discussing this matter, there are a few arguments to be pointed out to

provide a more comprehensive understanding of the differences in the purposes of the two

communication systems. The points of arguments are elaborated in terms of displacement,

arbitrariness and productivity.

2.1 Displacement

The term displacement refers to the property of a language which allows its users to

talk about things and events which are not present in the immediate environment of the

speaker (Syal & Jindal, 2007). Displacement enables languages to be used to talk about

things that are remote in time and place from the interlocutors. A system without

displacement could not be used to talk about the past or the future, to write fiction, to plan,

speculate or form hypothesis and this is the case for animal communication (Malmkjær,

2002). Non-human creatures live in a communicative world which is foreign to us; it is

bounded by the horizon, lacking a past or a future, consisting only of the endless repetition

of a few familiar messages about what’s going on at the moment (Trask, 2007).

The fact that animal’s communication system lacks of this property creates a big

difference of its purpose compared to human language. As humans are able to share past

experiences and discuss plans for their future, animals like parrots can only communicate of

the events that are happening as they are communicating. Besides the matter of time, place
or location is also something that animals are not able to point out clearly in their

‘conversation’. Children can tell their parents what they learnt at school today or yesterday

morning. A parrot is not able to tell its owner about what it was doing all morning or where it

went while the owner was away. This statement shows that bee communication has

displacement in an extremely limited form (Yule, 2006). Concisely, humans are able to

include things regardless of time and place in their communication unlike animals due to

displacement.

2.2 Arbitrariness

Arbitrariness is described as the aspect of the relationship between linguistic signs

and objects in the world. There is no ‘natural’ connection between a linguistic form and its

meaning. The connection is considered arbitrary (Yule, 2006). Human language is arbitrary

in the sense that there is no inherent relation between the words of a language and their

meanings or the ideas conveyed by them.

There are words some languages, which do have a relation with the meanings or

ideas they stand for. Onomatopoeia is a term used for words that imitate the sounds they

stand for such as buzz and hum. However, such words are very few and for the same sound,

different languages have different words. These words, therefore, do not invalidate the fact

that words in a language are arbitrarily selected and that the relationship between words and

their referents is purely arbitrary. There is no reason why a female adult human being is

called a woman in English and ‘Femine’ in French (Syal & Jindal, 2007).

For the majority of animal signals, there does appear to be a clear connection

between the conveyed message and the signal used to convey it (Yule, 2006). Body

language and movements portrayed by parrots like eye pinning, tail lifting and feather fluffing

have different meanings (Dot, 2016) The difference is also determined by the intensity and

the number of repetitions in the body movements. In short, most animal communication are

arbitrary because its iconicity of its signs and their meanings while human language is not.
2.3 Productivity / Creativity

According to Yules (2006), humans are continually creating new expressions and

novel utterances by manipulating their linguistic resources to describe new objects and

situations. This property is described as productivity and it is linked to the fact that the

potential number of utterances in any human language is infinite. The communication

system of other creatures does not appear to have this type of flexibility (Yule, 2006). The

human language enables a person to produce various kinds of literature or written works for

the purpose of education. The person who reads and analyses the works produced can

make new messages by blending old ones, analogizing from old ones or transforming old

ones which refers to the messages previously read (Malmkjær, 2002).

In school, students may learn a new word every day and with those new words, they

are able to form new words and maybe even construct sentences. For example, a student

learns the verb ‘construct’ and forms the word ‘construction’ with it. Animals however, are

unable to do so as their communication system is extremely limited and undeveloped (Syal

& Jindal, 2007). A parrot is unable to invent a new sentence or use new words without being

taught by its owner. No animal can learn to communicate in a new way from other animals,

even from the same species, as they are born their communicative skill and are unable to

produce anything new from it. Succinctly, the human language can be used to learn or

acquire new things because of its productivity while the animal’s communication system

lacks such ability.

3.0 CONCLUSION

As a conclusion, parrots are unable to communicate in human language based on

three main criteria which are displacement, arbitrariness and productivity. Humans can talk

about events of anywhere and anytime while animal’s communication is restricted to present

and nearby events only. Parrots use signs which have inherent relation to their meanings.

There is no form of development in animal’s communication system while the human

language has infinite room for changes. Humans have a wider range of purposes compared

to animals mainly because of the structure and characteristics of their human language. The

difference in purpose is an important point to focus on and understand, to help in

distinguishing the differences of the two communication systems.

References

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Malmkjær, K. (2002). The Lingsuitics Encyclopedia. New York: Routledge.

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