- Human Language Versus

Animal Communication

- Non-Verbal Communication

Group 2: Tee Shu Min

Nurul Nadia

Daniel Koh

Human Language versus Animal

Communication

Human Language

Definition of Language

• Language is the human capacity for acquiring and using complex systems of communication.

• A system of communication, medium of thought, a vehicle for literary expression.

• "humans acquire language (and non-humans do

not) not because humans are (quantitatively)

more intelligent, but because humans possess

some species-specific mechanism (or

mechanisms) which is a prerequisite of language-

acquisition". Macphail (1982, cited by Pearce, 1987)

Human Language

• Language is the most effective method of human communication.

• The term language is derived from the Latin word lingua meaning tongue.

• Human beings can talk of real or imaginary situations, places and objects far removed from their present surroundings and time

Human Language is in Organised Form

• Grammar Rule (Word order)

• Example: Take the words: ate, I and lunch

Right : I ate lunch Wrong : ate I lunch Wrong : lunch ate I

• Language Rules and Meaning

• Knowledge of language rules lets us change the meaning of our messages

• Examples: Dog bites man. Man bites dog.

Human Language is an Open Entity

• New words or meanings may come into use.

• Example:• the English word “nice”

• Now generally means pleasing, agreeable, polite, and kind.

• In the15th century it meant foolish, wanton, lascivious, and even wicked.

Functions of Human Language

• to interact

• to give information

• to express emotions

Features of Human Language

1. Vocal-Auditory Channel

• The standard human language occurs as a vocal (making sounds with the mouth) type of communication which is perceived by hearing it.

• Majority of human languages

occur in the vocal-auditory

channel as their basic mode

of expression.

2. Broadcast Transmission and Directional

Reception

• The human language signal is sent out in all directions, while it is perceived in a limited direction.

3. Rapid Fading (Transitoriness)

• Human language signal does not persist over time.

• Writing and audio-recordings can be used to record human language so that it can be recreated at a later time

Interchangeability

• The speaker can both receive and broadcast the same signal.

Total Feedback• The speaker can hear

themself speak and

can monitor their language

performance as they go.

Specialisation

• The organs used for producing speech are specially adapted to that task.

• Human lips, tongue, throat, etc. have been specialized into speech apparati instead of being merely the eating apparati

Semanticity• Specific signals can be matched with specific

meanings

• Example:

• in French, the word sel means a white, crystalline substance consisting of sodium and chlorine atoms.

• the same substance is matched with the English word salt.

• anyone speaker of these languages will recognize that the signal sel or salt refers to the substance sodium chloride.

Arbitrariness• There is no necessary connection between the form

of the signal and the thing being referred to.

• Example:• a four-legged domestic

canine could be called

as dog, perro (Spanish),

inee (Japanese) and

anjing (Malay)

Discreteness

• The basic units of speech (such as sounds) can be categorized as belonging to distinct categories

Displacement

• The speaker can talk about things which are

not present, either spatially or temporally.

• Example:• human language allows speakers

to talk about the past and the

future, as well as the present

Productivity

• Human languages allow speakers to create novel, never-before-heard utterances that others can understand

Traditional Transmission

• Human language is not something inborn.

• Although humans are probably born with an ability to do language, they must learn, or acquire, their native language from other speakers.

Duality of Patterning

• The discrete parts of a language can be recombined in a systematic way to create new forms.

• The ability to recombine small units in different orders.

Animal Communicat

ion

Definition of Animal Communication

• "the transmission of a signal from one animal to another

such that the sender benefits, on average, from the

response of the recipient“

• Slater (1983)

• Animals also can communicate.

• But their communication system differs from human communication.

• Animal communication lacks flexibility and creativity.

• Their communication tradition is acquired genetically and not through learning.

• Animal communication is merely a response to stimulus in the immediate environment

Types of Animal Communication

• Chemical signals

- used by some very simple creatures, including protozoa

• Smell (odor)

- related to chemical signals, eg. pheromones attract, skunk secretions repel

• Touch

• Movement

• Posture

- eg. dogs, geese

• Facial gestures

- eg. dogs snarling

• Visual signals

- eg. Feathers

• Sound

- eg. very many vertebrate and invertebrate calls

Functions of Animal Communication

• attract (especially mates)

• repel (especially competitors or enemies)

• signal aggression or submission

• advertise species

• warn of predators

• communicate about the environment or the availability of food

Animal communication systems lack of the following features:-

• Semanticity

• Arbitrariness

• Discreteness

• Displacement

• Productivity

Differences between Human Language and Animal

Communication

Signs

• Animals are born knowing how to form specific signs to communicate with one another.

• Humans are born with the capacity

to learn how to speak and be

creative with signs.

• If an animal makes a sign, then it has one meaning and one meaning alone.

• Human signs have multiple meanings because humans interpret one sign to mean many things

Stimuli

• Animal communication does

not extend much further than

inborn responses to specific

stimuli that signal one

reaction or another.

• Human communication extends much further beyond stimuli and response.

Humor

• Animals do not have the instinct to communicate with one another in a humorous or novel manner.

• Humans have the inborn ability to creatively come up with humorous situations and interact with one another on a humorous level.

Messages

• Animals can communicate with one another using only a set number of messages.

• However, because of syntax, humans can put together words in endless ways.

Change

• The determining force in the way animals change is the genetic processes that power evolution.

• Humans change rapidly with the evolution of culture and the norms of the time.  

• Human language and animal communication are vastly different from one another.

• Human language is more complex, with many hidden meanings in words and gestures, as well as many different symbols to express different ideas.

• Animal communication is much more straightforward and simpler than human language

Definition

• The process of communication through sending and receiving wordless (mostly visual) messages between people

Non-verbal signals provide valuable feedback in oral communication.

A lot can be said through gestures, body language or posture, by facial expression and eye contact.

Non-verbal communication can include vocal sounds that are not words such as grunts, sighs, and whimpers.

Types of Non-Verbal

Communication

5. Proxemics

6. Eye Gaze

7. Haptic

8. Appearance

1. Facial Expression

2. Gestures

3. Paralinguistic

4. Body Language and Postures

Facial Expression The face is one the most important conveyor of emotional information.

A face can light up with enthusiasm, energy, and approval, express confusion or boredom, and scowl with displeasure.

Gestures

• Deliberate movements and signals are an important way to communicate meaning without words.

• Common gestures include waving, pointing, and using fingers to indicate numeric amounts.

Paralinguistic

• Paralinguistic refers to vocal communication that is separate from actual language.

• This includes factors such as tone of voice, loudness, inflection and pitch.

Divided into:• Vocal characterizers

• Examples: laugh, cry, yell, moan, whine, belch, yawn

• Vocal qualifiers

• Examples: volume, pitch, rhythm, tempo, and tone

• Vocal Segregates

• Examples: un-huh, shh, uh, ooh, mmmh, humm, eh

Body Language & Postures

• Posture and movement can also convey a great deal on information.

• Our body postures can create a feeling of warm openness or cold rejection.

• A posture of arms crossed on the chest portrays a feeling of inflexibility. The action of gathering up one's materials and reaching for a purse signals a desire to end the conversation

Proxemics

• Refers to how people use space to communicate 

• We can consider that this personal space is like a bubble that one doesn't want invaded

Eye Gaze

• Eyes also play an important role in non-verbal communication.

• The eyes are particularly expressive in telegraphing joy, sadness, anger, or confusion

Haptic

• Means by which people and other animals communicate via touching.

• It is a component of nonverbal communication in interpersonal relationships, and vital in conveying physical intimacy.

Consist of:

• Hybrid touches

• Task-related touches

• Accidental touches

• Positive effect touches

• Playful touches

• Control touches

Appearance

• Our choice of color, clothing, hairstyles and other factors affecting appearance are also considered a means of nonverbal communication.

2 New Types of Non-Verbal

Communication

• Emoticons

• Examples: in emails and text messages

• Posting photos

• Examples: on Facebook and other social media