Editing Animal language (section)

==Aspects of human language==
[[File:Claudine andre.jpg|thumb|The Belgian conservationist [[Claudine André]] with a [[bonobo]]]]

Some experts argue the following properties separate human language from animal communication:<ref name=denham>{{cite book|isbn=9781428205833|title=Linguistics for Everyone: An Introduction|author1=Denham, Kristin|author1-link=Kristin Denham |author2=Lobeck, Anne|author2-link=Anne Lobeck|edition=Instructor's|publisher=Wadsworth, Cengage Learning|year=2010|pages=4–5}}</ref>

* ''[[Arbitrariness]]'': There is usually no rational relationship between a sound or sign and its meaning.<ref name="Fitch 2011">{{Cite journal  | last1 = Fitch | first1 = WT. | title = Unity and diversity in human language. | journal = Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci | volume = 366 | issue = 1563 | pages = 376–88 |date=Feb 2011 | doi = 10.1098/rstb.2010.0223 | pmid = 21199842 |pmc = 3013471 }}</ref> For example, there is nothing intrinsically house-like about the word "house".
* ''[[Digital infinity|Discreteness]]'': Language is composed of small, separate, and repeatable parts (discrete units, e.g. [[morpheme]]s) that are used in combination to create meaning.
* ''[[Displacement (linguistics)|Displacement]]'': Language can be used to communicate about things that are not in the immediate vicinity either spatially or temporally.<ref name="Fitch 2011"/>
* ''[[Duality of patterning]]'': The smallest meaningful units (words or morphemes) consist of sequences of units without meaning (sounds or [[phoneme]]s).<ref name="Fitch 2011"/> This is also referred to as [[double articulation]].
* ''[[Productivity (linguistics)|Productivity]]'': Users can understand and create an indefinitely large number of utterances.<ref name="Fitch 2011"/>
* ''[[Semanticity]]'': Specific signals have specific meanings.<ref name="Fitch 2011"/>

[[Great ape language|Research with apes]], like that of [[Francine Patterson]] with [[Koko (gorilla)|Koko]]<ref name="Patterson 1981">{{Cite book  | last1 = Patterson | first1 = Francine | last2 = Linden | first2 = Eugene | title = The education of Kok | year = 1981 | publisher = Holt | location = New York | isbn = 978-0-03-046101-9 | oclc = 7283799 }}</ref> (gorilla) or Allen and Beatrix Gardner with [[Washoe (chimpanzee)|Washoe]]<ref name="Gardner 1969">{{cite journal|last1=Gardner|first1=R. A.|last2=Gardner|first2=B. T.|title=Teaching Sign Language to a Chimpanzee| journal=Science| volume=165| issue=3894| year=1969| pages=664–672| issn=0036-8075| pmid=5793972| doi=10.1126/science.165.3894.664|citeseerx=10.1.1.384.4164|bibcode=1969Sci...165..664G}}</ref><ref name="Gardner 1975">{{Cite journal | doi = 10.1037/0096-3445.104.3.244 | last1 = Gardner | first1 = B.T. | last2 = Gardner | first2 = R.A. | year = 1975 | title = Evidence for sentence constituents in the early utterances of child and chimpanzee | journal = Journal of Experimental Psychology: General | volume = 104 | issue = 3| pages = 244–267 }}</ref> (chimpanzee), suggested that apes are capable of using language that meets some of these requirements, including arbitrariness, discreteness, and productivity.<ref name="Fernández 2010">{{Cite book  | last1 = Fernández | first1 = Eva M. | last2 = Cairns | first2 = Helen Smith | title = Fundamentals of psycholinguistic | year = 2011 | publisher = Wiley-Blackwell | location = Chichester, West Sussex [England]; Malden, MA | isbn = 978-1-4051-9147-0 | oclc = 667883441 }}</ref>

In the wild, [[Common chimpanzee|chimpanzee]]s have been seen "talking" to each other when warning about approaching danger. For example, if one chimpanzee sees a snake, said chimpanzee may make a low, rumbling noise, signaling for all the other chimps to climb into nearby trees.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Crockford |first1=Catherine |last2=Wittig |first2=Roman M. |last3=Mundry |first3=Roger |last4=Zuberbühler |first4=Klaus |date=January 2012 |title=Wild Chimpanzees Inform Ignorant Group Members of Danger |url=https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2011.11.053 |journal=Current Biology |volume=22 |issue=2 |pages=142–146 |doi=10.1016/j.cub.2011.11.053 |pmid=22209531 |bibcode=2012CBio...22..142C |s2cid=3257708 |issn=0960-9822|hdl=10023/4314 |hdl-access=free }}</ref> In this case, the chimpanzees' communication does not indicate displacement, as it is entirely contained to an observable event.

Arbitrariness has been noted in [[meerkat]] calls; [[Waggle dance|bee dance]]s demonstrate elements of spatial displacement; and cultural transmission has possibly occurred through language between the [[bonobo]]s named [[Kanzi]] and [[Panbanisha]].<ref name = Smithsonain>{{cite magazine | url = http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/10022981.html | access-date = 2008-03-18 | date = November 2006 | magazine = [[Smithsonian (magazine)|Smithsonian]] | title = Speaking Bonobo | last = Raffaele | first = P }}</ref>

Claims that animals have language skills akin to humans, however, are extremely controversial. In his book ''[[The Language Instinct]]'',<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Pinker |first=Steven |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=j9lHAWAo_MIC |title=The Language Instinct: How the Mind Creates Language |date=2000 |publisher=HarperCollins |isbn=978-0-06-095833-6 |language=en}}</ref> [[Steven Pinker]] illustrates that claims of chimpanzees acquiring language are exaggerated and rest on very limited or specious evidence.<ref name=":0" />

The American linguist Charles Hockett theorized that there are sixteen features of human language that distinguish human communication from that of animals. He called these the [[design features of language]]. The features mentioned below have so far been found in all spoken human languages, and at least one is missing from any other animal communication system.
* ''Vocal-auditory channel'': Sounds are emitted from the mouth and perceived by the auditory system.<ref name="Fitch 2011"/> While this applies to many animal communication systems, there are many exceptions, such as those relying on visual communication. One example is cobras extending the ribs behind their heads to send the message of intimidation or of feeling threatened.<ref>{{cite web|author=Cobra Master |url=http://www.cobras.org/cob_1.htm |title=Introduction |publisher=Cobras.org |date=2003-12-12 |access-date=2013-05-19}}</ref> In humans, [[sign languages]] provide many examples of fully formed languages that use a visual channel.
* ''Broadcast transmission and directional reception'':<ref name="Fitch 2011"/> This requires that the recipient can tell the direction that the signal comes from and thus the originator of the signal.
* ''Rapid fading'' (''transitory nature''): The signal lasts a short time.<ref name="Fitch 2011"/> This is true of all systems involving sound. It does not take into account audio recording technology and is also not true for written language. It tends not to apply to animal signals involving chemicals and smells which often fade slowly. For example, a skunk's smell, produced in its glands, lingers to deter a predator from attacking.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/skunk/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100114005423/http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/skunk/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=January 14, 2010 |title=Skunks, Skunk Pictures, Skunk Facts – National Geographic |publisher=Animals.nationalgeographic.com |date=2013-05-15 |access-date=2013-05-19}}</ref>
* ''Interchangeability'': All utterances that are understood can be produced.<ref name="Fitch 2011"/> This is different from some communication systems where, for example, males produce one set of behaviors and females another and they are unable to interchange these messages so that males use the female signal and vice versa. For example, Heliothine moths have differentiated communication: females are able to send a chemical to indicate preparedness to mate, while males cannot send the chemical.<ref>{{cite journal|title=Chemical communication in heliothine moths|date=1991-09-01 |doi=10.1007/BF00206989 |volume=169 |issue=3 |journal=Journal of Comparative Physiology A|last1 = Almaas|first1 = Torj.|last2=Christensen |first2=Thomasa. |last3=Mustaparta |first3=Hanna |s2cid=20567271 }}</ref>
* ''Total feedback'': The sender of a message is aware of the message being sent.<ref name="Fitch 2011"/>
* ''Specialization'': The signal produced is intended for communication and is not due to another behavior.<ref name="Fitch 2011"/> For example, dog panting is a natural reaction to being overheated, but is not produced to specifically relay a particular message.
* ''Semanticity'': There is some fixed relationship between a signal and a meaning.<ref name="Fitch 2011"/>