Do Non-Human Animals Have Language?

Noam Chomsky's Language Criteria - Do Animals Have Language?

Philosophers and scientists have long wondered whether animals were capable of communicating with each other in the form of language. However, research regarding both the cranial and cognitive capacity of higher mammals suggests that these animals are capable of many cerebral functions that used to be the purview of humans.

This paper argues that higher mammals like primates, dolphins and whales are capable of and have evolved a complex language of their own. Towards this, the paper looks at the recent research done regarding the "whistling" and other auditory communication among dolphins. In arguing that this "whistling" constitutes and fulfills the functions of language, the paper uses the framework on the syntactic structures and the various aspects of language. Through an application of Chomsky's criteria, this paper argues that dolphins have evolved a communication system made of whistling sounds that serve many of the purposes of human language.

Chomsky's functions of language

For Chomsky, human language is characterized first and foremost by structural principles like grammar, an underlying system of rules that govern the communication exchange. By understanding the rules that govern this communication, humans are able to develop a "creative ability" that allows them to speak or understand sentences that they have not heard previously (Chomsky 19-21).

Furthermore, the system of grammar is composed of "surface structures" like sounds and words. By employing the rules of grammar and interpretation, people are able to transform these sounds into meanings. They are also capable of converting their own meaning into sounds, to communicate with other human beings.

Aside from communicating needs, Chomsky believed that language allowed humans to express thoughts, establish friendships and other social ties and to transmit information to clarify abstract ideas (Chomsky 18).

Dolphin sounds

Many experts have long believed that dolphins have both the physiological and cognitive ability to evolve and use language in the same way as humans. Much of the long-standing belief regarding the intelligence of dolphins are based on the ratio of a dolphin's brain to its body mass. In humans, the 3-pound brain generally makes up 2% of a person's total body weight. On average, dolphins have a brain mass of 3.5 pounds, giving them a brain-to-body ration of 1%. In comparison, chimpanzees -- considered the most intelligent primate -- have a brain-to-body ratio of only 0.7% (Suplee).

However, opinions continue to differ regarding the linguistic capability of dolphins in captivity and in the wild.

Captivity

The whistling sounds observed among dolphins have been the subject of scientific study since the 1950s. The early studies were funded by the United States Navy, which was interested in the potential military uses of trained dolphins. However, scientists like marine biologist Ken Norris observed that rather than making random whistling and clicking sounds, dolphins used rhythm and cadence to vary their sounds. Norris likens these rhythms to human speech, observing, "Just like cadences are very important in how we speak, we're finding that rhythmicities in dolphins and other marine mammals are very important in communication" (cited in Hume).

Further experiments proved that dolphins could communicate with humans as well. Louis Herman of the Kewalo Basin Marine Mammal Laboratory in Hawaii has taught two bottle-nosed dolphins to respond to hand signs and a rudimentary whistle language. Rather than merely responding to a set command of bring the ball," Herman found that the dolphin could learn separate symbols for each word. In addition, the dolphins also understood syntax and grammar, how word placement can affect the meaning of a sentence. Thus, the dolphins understand the difference between "bring the ball to the basket" and "bring the basket to the ball" (Hume).

By giving the dolphins a waterproof keyboard with a set of symbols, Herman also found that the dolphins could produce language as well as understand it. The dolphins learned that pushing certain key symbols with their snouts generated specific whistling sounds. In effect, they were "writing" sentences while they were speaking. Through this technique, the researchers further concluded that dolphins were capable of understanding language, could use abstract concepts and can think in terms of the past and future (Hume).

These are all cognitive abilities that were previously solely as human abilities. In addition, the use of a specific set of whistles and the ability to understand and express the differences between "bring the ball to the basket" and "bring the basket to the ball" demonstrate both Chomsky's creative aspect of language and the various human uses of language as thought expression and communication.

However, most researchers also believed that only dolphins in captivity demonstrated this ability. Researchers like Herman and Norris believed that while dolphins had the ability to use language, they had not evolved to a point where language use came naturally.

In the wild

In 2000, marine biologist Vincent M. Janik of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute in Massachusetts challenged this prevailing belief. Janik recorded and analyzed more than 1,700 whistle signals between bottle-nosed dolphins swimming along the Moray Firth coast of Scotland. He concluded that the dolphins responded to each other in matching signals, echoing identical whistles ("Dolphin Whistles Offer Signs of Language Ability").

Furthermore, Janik believes that dolphin already have this differential whistling ability at birth, in keeping with Chomsky's theory that the ability for language is inborn in every human. Within its first year, he proposed that each dolphin calf develops its unique personal sound signal, which is composed of a pattern of rising and falling tones. This sound is similar to the "whistle" of the calf's parents, allowing dolphins to communicate to which pod they belong. However, the sound is also significantly differentiated enough to be recognized as the calf's own "acoustic signature" (Suplee).