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Interspecies linguistics (mander.xyz)

submitted 3 months ago by fossilesque@mander.xyz to c/science_memes@mander.xyz

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[-] sodalite@slrpnk.net 92 points 3 months ago

pspsps

[-] Haggunenons@lemmy.world 51 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

For anyone interested, we have a community about this! !digitalbioacoustics@lemmy.world

[-] LouSpooner@lemmy.world 4 points 3 months ago

Thanks!

[-] yesman@lemmy.world 29 points 3 months ago

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

[-] blackluster117@possumpat.io 61 points 3 months ago

"Either back it up or get fucked up."

[-] Swedneck@discuss.tchncs.de 44 points 3 months ago

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

[-] Droechai@lemm.ee 1 points 3 months ago

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

[-] Passerby6497@lemmy.world 1 points 3 months ago

No other languages have evolved to say that.

[-] Droechai@lemm.ee 2 points 3 months ago

Exactly, other languages would use something like "Det är bara människan som utvecklat tal" or "Es ist nur der Mensch, der die Sprache entwickelt hat" depending on language

[-] TSG_Asmodeus@lemmy.world 33 points 3 months ago

Only humans have language.

Animal language.

[-] Semjaza@lemmynsfw.com 15 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

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

[-] tamal3@lemmy.world 4 points 3 months 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/

[-] Murdeth@lemmy.world 3 points 3 months ago

I appreciate your disclaimers and context of your sources.

[-] oxideseven@lemmy.ca 8 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

What is this strange group on Lemmy that is so anti animal intelligence?

[-] na_th_an@lemmy.world 6 points 3 months ago

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.

[-] shneancy@lemmy.world 5 points 3 months ago

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

[-] pete_the_cat@lemmy.world 10 points 3 months ago

Bees actually dance to communicate and it's considered a language 😄

[-] MindTraveller@lemmy.ca 2 points 3 months ago

Koko the gorilla would beg to differ

[-] Droechai@lemm.ee 6 points 3 months ago

Just gonna drop this, I haven't done a deep dive in sources thoufh

https://youtu.be/e7wFotDKEF4?si=earmcx6FpV4PLDfN

[-] MindTraveller@lemmy.ca 5 points 3 months ago

Don't leave your SI lying around like that

[-] Shawdow194@kbin.run 25 points 3 months ago

Well it makes sense

A slow tempo is... slow. A quick tempo is upbeat and attracts attention

[-] higgsboson@dubvee.org 1 points 3 months ago

If you walk without rhythm, you won't attract the worm.

[-] Emmie@lemm.ee 19 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

Why do we use sound hmmm all over the world when thinking about something? Was there just first proto language that had all these onomatopoeias built in or were they invented independently because they excite neurons in same way, mood regardless of culture?

[-] occhionaut@lemmy.world 10 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

Maybe its for a similar reason to why cats purr; vibration make brain feel different in a way that facilitates thought?

source im fuckin g insame

[-] Dasus@lemmy.world 1 points 3 months ago

G insame in the membrane

[-] rickyrigatoni@lemm.ee 9 points 3 months ago

that's the sound of our brains venting the thinking gas

[-] flora_explora@beehaw.org 5 points 3 months ago

Maybe it also has to do with the human anatomy? Like, when people are thinking they probably have their mouth closed and maybe even purse their lips. The sound you can make in this pose is really just hmm I guess.

OK yeah, the next question would then be why we use certain facial expressions...

[-] Dasus@lemmy.world 5 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

Sign language is even more universal (early hominids def would've had signs before proper spoken language).

If I hold out my arm, my palm towards you, you'd probably know what I mean.

Like this.

[-] chatokun@lemmy.dbzer0.com 6 points 3 months ago

That you're a ~~cop~~ businessman?

[-] Dasus@lemmy.world 3 points 3 months ago

[-] moosetwin@lemmy.dbzer0.com 18 points 3 months ago

I watch as kitty run towards me, I say gogogo and kitty run faster

[-] jabathekek@sopuli.xyz 15 points 3 months ago

I do this to cats I see and they say "No." and sit down.

[-] KyuubiNoKitsune@lemmy.blahaj.zone 3 points 3 months ago

My cat follows all my commands. I say "ignore me and do nothing else I say" and he ignores me and continues with his day.

No,but I use similar tempos to call him and he comes.

[-] propter_hog@hexbear.net 8 points 3 months ago

So you're telling me that when a cat chirps when it sees a bird through the window, it's really saying "here, birdie birdie birdie" to it?

[-] Icalasari@fedia.io 10 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

Nah, it's trying to imitate the bird and is going, "No cat here, only friend" (in terms of purpose. In reality, the cat just knows birds with y appearance come to x sound, so make x sound to make y bird maybe come, the cat doesn't understand the mechanics, just that it works)

Cats do have limited mimicry abilities - It's probably why there are so many videos of cats "speaking" human words - adapting that mostly unused mimicry skill to get the human's attention with sounds it notices humans use to get the attention of other humans