There are many people who study the natural communicative forms of non-human animals. Nevertheless, there is a legitimate question about the specificity of human language to humans alone. One way to study this question is to see whether and to what degree other animals can learn human languages.
Regards, -- Christopher D. Green Department of Psychology York University Toronto, ON M3J 1P3 Canada 416-736-5115 ex. 66164 [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.yorku.ca/christo/ ============================ David E. Hall wrote: > Not being well versed in this debate, can someone clarify for me why > the discussion is always about animal acquisition of human language > and human constructs? The whole discussion strikes me as terribly > anthropocentric and subsequently blind to the possibility of language > as symbolic, semantic, structured, and generative/productive > manifesting in forms qualitatively distinct from human forms. > Creating environments for animals to learn and express language on > human terms may not tap that animals innate capacity. > > I'm also curious to know what some of the recent evidence is from the > study of language among marine mammals such as dolphins and whales. > Can anyone share? > > Thanks for any insight, > Dave > > > > ------------------- > David E. Hall, M.S. > Instructor/ Ph.D. Candidate > Systems Science: Psychology > Portland State University > (C) 503-799-5922 > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > > --- > ========== ---
