The Evolution of Language
Interspecies Animal Language Evolution
Roots • Biophony • Intelligence • Ears
The Language of Whales, Dolphins, Elephants, Birds, Apes, Bees, Bonobo, Gorilla, Monkey and Chimp. Some species like bees use dance, while other species scream, bark, roar, click, whistle, sing, and gesture. Humans evolved to do all of that.
Evolutionary Science Show the Roots of Language:
Researchers have found that monkeys combine calls to make them meaningful in the same way that humans do.The researchers recorded the alarm calls of putty-nosed monkeys in Nigeria and noticed them combining noises to apparently convey different meanings. 2008 Large Repertoire - The latest research provides evidence that the various calls may contain at least three types of information - the event witnessed, the caller's identity, and whether he intends to travel, all of which were recognised by other monkeys.
- Cotton-top tamarin Monkeys 'grasp basic grammar' 2004
- Cotton-top tamarins Monkeys can distinguish different sound-patterns in time which shows they recognise 'bad grammar'. 2009
WHISTLING LANGUAGES
Hear Mexican Whistler by Roger Whitaker
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Human SILBO Whistle Language.
Hear the Human SILBO Whistle Language.
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"Hey, Servando!"
"What?"
"Look, go tell Julio to bring the castanets."
"OK. Hey, Julio!"
"What?"
"Lili says you should go get the kids and have them bring the castanets for the party."
"OK, OK, OK." Human Whistling Languagessource
Dolphins Name Themselves With Whistles, Study Says James Owen May 8, 2006
Dolphins give themselves "names"distinctive whistles that they use to identify each other, new research shows. Scientists say it's the first time wild animals have been shown to call out their own names. What's more, the
marine mammals can recognize individual names even when the sound is produced by an unfamiliar voice.
Can different species 'talk'? A dolphin appeared to "talk" to two stranded whales before leading them to safety. How common is inter-species communication? Before the bottlenose dolphin turned up, the beached pygmy sperm whales were in clear distress.But when Moko arrived at Mahia beach on the east coast of New Zealand's North Island, their mood changed and they followed him to safety. The ability of some animals to communicate is well known. Dolphins use three forms of signalling to other dolphins - whistles, clicking and postures.
WHALE LANGUAGE
Whales can love!
Researchers in New York have found that various types of whales possess the same emotion-producing brain cells as humans.
WHALE LANGUAGE - Warbling Whales Speak A Language All Their Own Hear: WHALE Whistle
Humpback Whale Chorus, recorded in a long, narrow channel that amplified and attenuated their calls in a most wonderful way
CLICK LANGUAGES
CLICKS: Ancient Roots for an African Language?
'First language may have used clicks' October 2001
http://www.ananova.com/
Two scientists say a genetic study suggests the world's first language may have used clicks. Still found in parts of Africa, Click Languages rely on distinctive clicking sounds made by the tongue to form words. The US researchers say their study shows existing click speakers are genetically diverse, meaning their languages may be older than others. Click languages are still found in the Hadza tribe of Tanzania and the San groups of Botswana and Namibia.
ORIGIN OF THE LULLABYE It is a tool.
The tool is used to calm and quiet baby especially useful when you don't want your tribe, family, self to be found and eaten by the monsters that roam the night.Why do Children Sing?
Many animals, he argues, have evolved to squeeze their vocalizations into available niches of the soundscape in order to be heard by others of their kind. Evolution isnt just about the competition for space or food but also for bandwidth. If a species cannot find a sonic niche of its own, it will not survive.
Hear Children Singing - The voices of children along with nearby birds.
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Further Reading and Resources
Language indicates Culture: This also involves Intelligence, Emotion and Compassion
- EVOLUTION OF HUMAN LANGUAGE ~ Karen Ellis
- LANGUAGE IS MUSIC TO THE BRAIN
- How the SONGS OF NATIONS evolved.
- Humans in cultures that speak TONAL LANGUAGES have PERFECT PITCH.HUMANS ARE BORN WITH PERFECT PITCH - USE IT OR LOSE IT
- Interdisciplinary connections between Language, Music, Evolution, & ReadingRhythmic patterns underlie the human languageOrigin of Human Vocal Behavior: An Anatomical consideration
- Interdisciplinary Social Rhythm Researchers
How music strikes a chord with language. - The Evolution of Music in Comparative Perspective
GESTURE
Humans still Gesture all the time , the nongramatical expressive movements we all make [shrugging shoulders, waving good-bye, brandishing a fist. Hands are the beginnings of language.
Niches of the Soundscape
BIOPHONY and SOUNDSCAPE
Biophony, Bernie Krause has theorized, is unique to each place; nowhere in nature sounds exactly like anywhere else. This idea has led him toward a controversial way of thinking that would broaden the scope of todays evolutionary biology. Many animals, he argues, have evolved to squeeze their vocalizations into available niches of the soundscape in order to be heard by others of their kind. Evolution isn't just about the competition for space or food but also for bandwidth.