Doctor Dolittle's delusion : animals and the uniqueness of human language / Stephen R. Anderson ; with illustrations by Amanda Patrick.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Anderson, Stephen R.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Animal communication.

Language and languages.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (368 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

New Haven : Yale University Press, c2004.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Can animals be taught a human language and use it to communicate? Or is human language unique to human beings, just as many complex behaviors of other species are uniquely theirs? This engrossing book explores communication and cognition in animals and humans from a linguistic point of view and asserts that animals are not capable of acquiring or using human language. Stephen R. Anderson explains what is meant by communication, the difference between communication and language, and the essential characteristics of language. Next he examines a variety of animal communication systems, including bee dances, frog vocalizations, bird songs, and alarm calls and other vocal, gestural, and olfactory communication among primates. Anderson then compares these to human language, including signed languages used by the deaf. Arguing that attempts to teach human languages or their equivalents to the great apes have not succeeded in demonstrating linguistic abilities in nonhuman species, he concludes that animal communication systems-intriguing and varied though they may be-do not include all the essential properties of human language. Animals can communicate, but they can't talk.

Contents:

Front matter

Contents

Preface

1 Animals, Language, and Linguistics

2 Language and Communication

3 On Studying Cognition

4 The Dance ''Language'' of Honeybees

5 Sound in Frog and Man

6 Birds and Babies Learning to Speak

7 What Primates Have to Say for Themselves

8 Syntax

9 Language Is Not Just Speech

10 Language Instruction in the Laboratory

11 Language, Biology, and Evolution

Notes

References

Credits

Index

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references (p. 331-338) and index.

ISBN:

9786611740689

9781281740687

1281740683

9780300127102

0300127103

OCLC:

1023999375