Animal
Language
Some
people say
that
human beings
are the only
animals that
have language,
¿It is
true?, A person must
have a good
definition of language,
different kinds
of animals must
be studied, Some
animals certainly
seem to
have a communication
system that
may or not
be a language, for
example: the
bee has ways
of telling other
bees about
food.
Bees
are very animals
which fly
through the
air to look
for flowers
for food.
Bees have
been studied
by Karl
von Frisch who
won a Novel Prize about
bees’ activities
when they
returned to
their home
called a hive,
when a bee
found some
food it
returned to
the hive
and danced.
first.-
The
dance was the
way the
bee communicated
to other
bees the
fact that
it
had found
food, and
bees
do
two kinds
of dances to tell
other
bees of their
discovery
of
food, the
bee moves
in a
circle
inside the
hive, and
the food
not be
more than
ten meters
away.
Second.-
kind of
dance done by bees
is a tail-wagging
dance, as wiggles
the end
of its body
as it moves
in a straight
line, the tail-wagging
dance is used
when the
food is
far away
of ten meters, and
the bee
dance wiggles
shows the direction
that must
fly in to
find the
food.
The
smell tells
them
what
kind of flower
to
look for,
after watching
the
round tail-wagging
dance and smelling
that
has found the
food.
Karl
von Frisch did
an experiment
with bees,
put a food
source very
high above
the bee
hive, the
bee returned
to the
hive and did
the
round dance.
Dolphins,
like bees,
the scientist
have not
studied the
dolphin as carefully
as they have
studied the
bee. A few experiments
with dolphin
has been studied
because its
general behavior is
much like
that
of human.
The
dolphin has three
kinds of calls
or noises
to tell
other dolphin
about food,
danger, or
other things.
Monkeys are very
intelligent and
similar to humans, and more difficult
to
decide whether monkeys have
language.
Because
of this similarity,
some scientists
in the late
1940, tried to
teach a monkey
named Viki
to talk,
and after year
Viki could
only say
a few words.
Problem
with this
experiment is
that monkeys
do not have
the same
kind of mouth
and throat as humans.
Other
scientists tried
to teach
a monkey named
Washoe to
use a sign language,
words are not
spoken. Instead,
signs are made
with hands.
It seemed
to be a
better kind
of language to
teach to
a monkey, after
two years,
Washoe could
make thirty-four
signs with
her hands.
For example,
she could
put three
fingers next
to her
ear as a
sign for
her name,
another, she
could also
use the sign
for
«come here», putting
her arm
out, and
bending it
back toward herself.
A thrid
group of scientist
have been
working with
a monkey named
Lana in the past
few years.
Lana is being
studied at the
Yerkes
Primate research
Center in the U.S.
The
scientists who
are working with
Lana are studying her
ability to
make sentence
by
pressing symbols on a computer
board,
Lana may
ask the
computer to
give her
food, water,
or toys.
Lana
has learned to
use the nearly
100 symbols on the
computer board.
Because
of this similarity,
some scientists
in the late
1940, tried to
teach a monkey
named Viki
to talk,
and after year
Viki could
only say
a few words.
Problem
with this
experiment is
that monkeys
do not have
the same
kind of mouth
and throat as humans.
Exercises
1.Describe the bees’ communication system in
general.
The bees’
communication
system is
extremely interesting,
each can tell
all the
other bees
where to
look for food.
For example,
The bee
has ways of telling
other bees
about food.
2. Explain the difference
between the bees’ round dance and their tail- wagging dance.
The
bee wiggles
the end
of its body
as it moves
in a straight
line, and shows the direction
that the
bees must
fly in to
find the
food.
The
tail-wagging
dance is used
when the
food is
far away
3. How are the two dances similiar?
There
is a
round dance, the bee
moves in a
circle inside
the hive.
The
round dance is used
when food
is close
by.
4. Describe von Frisch’s experiment with the bees.
He put
a food source
very high
above the
bee hive,
and put a
bee into
the food,the
bee returned
to the
hive and did
the
round dance.
5.Why have dolphins been studied by scientists?
The dolphin
has been studied,
because its
general behavior is
much like
that of
human.
6. Why was the experiment with the monkey named Viki a failure?
Because
of this similarity
some scientist
in the late
1940 tried to
teach a monkey
named Viki
to talk.
Part
of the problem
with this
experiment is
that monkeys
do not have
the same
kind of mounth
and throat as humans.
7. What special abilities did Washoe have?
Washoe
have special
abilities a to
use a sign language,
words are not
spoken, it
seemed to
be a better kind
of language to
teach to
a monkey.
After
two years,
Washoe could
make thirty.four
signs with
her hand
8. Describe the work that has been done with Lana.
The
scientists who
are working with
Lana are studying her
ability to
make sentences.
Lana may
ask the
computer to
give her
food, water,
or toys.
Lana
has also shown
that different
word orders
have different
meanings for
her.
9. Give two definitions of language.
This
definition is used,
then bees,
dolphins, monkeys
all have
a language, but
language may
be defined of different
way.
Then
bees, dolphins
do not have
a language, but
monkeys are clearly
able to
combine symbols in a human language, that
they have
been taught.
10. Have humans been helped by animal
language experimentals? How?
They
are interesting because
they may
help us
learn language,
the system
used to
teach Washoe
has helped some
humans to
learn language.
These
experiments are
a help to humans.
