K.

Hvostova LING1P92 Fall 2014

LING 1P92 Introduction to the Psychology of Language Fall
2014
Seminar Discussion Questions
Week of Sept. 8: Human Language / Animal Communication
1. Collywobbles (n) 1. Stomach pain or queasiness. 2. Intense
anxiety or nervousness especially dealing with stomach
queasiness. The origin of this word came from early 19
th

century, from the word colic and wobble.
2. The honeybee uses a unique waggling dance to communicate
to others in the hive where a new food source is located. To
determine if the dance is language it must fit the criteria of
what language is defined by. Language is communication.
The dance is communication because it is directs at and can
influence others. It is the passing of information. In addition,
it has structure as the dance consists of two separate moves,
the waggle and the straight walked semicircle to complete the
dance. However, it is bound to the limited directions the bee
can dance, there is no evolutionary growth. The dance is not
arbitrary as there is only one message from the dance. It is
just to show which direction a new food source. There is no
intent other than for the animal is necessary in the growth and
survival of the hive. While human language can
communicate a number of different things, the honeybee can
only tell one. Therefore, the waggle dance of the honeybee is
not language.
3. There are reasons people give for their claim that the skills of
chimpanzees and gorillas do not constitute language. The
skeptical claim that there is not a clear beginning or end to
sign gestures. In addition, the gorillas arent learning a
language. Instead, they are developing a new trick that will
reward them with food. They way that these gorillas learn
the signs or words is through reward. Finally, the signs of the
K. Hvostova LING1P92 Fall 2014


gorillas do not follow ALS correctly as a person who uses it
is able to distinct between a broad range of signs and use
correct grammar. The gorillas have no understanding of the
structure of the language. These skeptics of gorillas being
about to learn human language are correct in their thinking.
While it is clear that these animals can understand and show
a broad variety of signs telling their emotions (Koko
watching the movie) and understand direction (Kanzi
following commands of trainer), they do not have a real
intent of communication through language as they learn ALS
through a rewarded system like a circus animals. They do not
know the meanings of the words; therefore the
communication is not arbitrary. For example, a chimp could
learn the word apple but go around calling everything an
apple. Yet, they associate the word not with meaning but
with a treat. Furthermore, they do not follow the same
structure of human language, the sentences are broken, most
of the time they are short and not correct in terms of
grammar. As Harley stated, we do not combine languages in
any old fashion; like computer languages, we can only
combine words in particular ways. Although, gorillas being
able to communicate using few signs and gestures are
fascinating, it is not enough to call it human language as they
do not comprehend the structure of language called, syntax or
syntactic rules.