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Interspecies linguistics (mander.xyz)
submitted 2 years ago by to c/science_memes@mander.xyz
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[–] 28 points 2 years ago (7 children)

Only humans have language. Inter-species communication is nothing special. Rattlesnakes are named for their ability to communicate cross species.

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  • [–] 43 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    curious how it's always humans saying that they're the only ones who have language..

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  • [–] 1 point 2 years ago (1 child)

    it's only humans capable of the sub communication protocol called English that says that

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  • [–] 15 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (3 children)

    They identified nouns and adjectives in prairie dog communication, that also seems to vary with regional dialects. I'll try to remember to dig up a source when I'm not out and about later.

    Edit: here's a not fully scientific link, but has names and links for people who want to go deeper in the science while being a decent lay person's overview.

    Yes, the blog name isn't very scientific looking (I have not read anything else on it). https://thehumanevolutionblog.com/2015/08/18/a-career-studying-the-sophisticated-vocabulary-of-prairie-dogs/

    And here's a peer reviewed study: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0003347205801174

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  • [–] 4 points 2 years ago

    Weren't science communicators talking about parts of speech in whale communication last year, too? They're using AI to identify patterns and variations in speech.

    Here's a general (though older) overview of whale language: https://www.britannica.com/explore/savingearth/the-language-of-whales

    Here's a more recent article taking about using AI to identify patterns in speech: https://scitechdaily.com/ai-decodes-sperm-whale-language-revealing-a-complex-system-of-communication/

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  • [+] 1 point 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (2 children)
    [deleted]
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  • [–] 3 points 2 years ago

    Okay, I'll bite.

    Why isn't it language? And how do you define that a method of communication qualifies to be called a language?

    Also, what would you call a method of communication that lies somewhere in between "follow the pheromones" and "modern human comms"?

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  • [–] 6 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    A rattlesnake can certainly communicate using sound, but is that language? Bright colors can communicate ideas of "do not eat this" across species as well, but they wouldn't fit my mental model of a language.

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  • [–] 5 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    what is language than making sounds to convey meaning and then decoding said sounds to understand their meaning

    human language is incredibly complex but a bee just buzzing a particular buzz that means "bear nearby" counts as a valid form of linguistic communication imo

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  • [–] 2 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    Koko the gorilla would beg to differ

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