Animals Communicate, Humans Do it

¶ … Animals Communicate, Humans do it With Style

For many years it was believed that humans were the only animals with communication abilities. In more recent history, however, experts who have studied other life forms and animals have come to the conclusion that animals also have the ability to communicate with each other. While humans have the most highly developed communication ability they are not the only living things who can communicate. Human language can be distinguished from other forms of communication by its complexity and versatility.

Recent research has uncovered the fact that humans are not the only linguistic animals. While the human language is the most complicated form of communication but it is not the only form of communication as has been proven by studies and examinations. It is believed that the human language began with manual gestures and then slowly evolved into what humans use today.

The theory that grammatical language evolved in the hominid line invites conflicting perspectives. Living primates such a monkeys use a certain form of vocalizations for communication. Nevertheless, early humans were perhaps also capable of such vocalizations. However, if the theory is true, it poses the question of why such vocalizations evolved to human spoken language while remained as such for primates. Language, therefore, must have emerged not from vocalization but from manual gestures and only changed to a vocal mode."

One of the most important elements that distinguish human language from other forms of communication is that it has varied properties.

Whereas other forms of communication among animals seem to be limited to a relatively small number of signals, and restricted to limited contexts, there is essentially no limit to the number of ideas or propositions that we can convey using sentences."

Human language has the ability to understand sentences that have never been put together before whereas animal communication is based more on visual reminders of things that are familiar.

Experts believe that human language is an evolutionary process by which coding moves the language along. Studies have indicated that the early communication was similar to other animal forms of communication based on gestures and sounds. It was through an evolutionary process that other abilities developed so that sentences can be formed with words never before experienced together, and the recipient can fully understand their meaning and context.

Referring to the fact that signing children acquire a lexicon first, it is argued that grammar in its largest sense is the latest acquisition in communication. The whole process is based on an underlying cognitive structure (so-called semantic memory) that is already in place. Grammar is responsible for two domains of representation: propositional and discourse pragmatics. The priority of the lexicon is also sustained by so-called pregrammatical communication as it is found, for example, in child pidgin and agrammatical aphasia. "

Human language is distinguished by these factors, however only time will tell if other animal communication evolves to math the abilty that humans currently have. While it has not happened yet, it is believed that some animals have highly advanced communication abilities as compared to other animals. Dolphins and primates both come to mind in the discussion of advanced animal communication abilities. Without being able to study the beginning it is impossible to know if their language ability has always been what it is today or if it is an advancing ability based on an evolutionary process, much like the human language.