A rather controversial theory

Hi there!

I have already said that I’m a student and that I had the intention of speaking about the topics I’ve been learning for the past years. Today I really want to speak about a topic that has been in my mind since Wednesday. When I first started this year at the teachers training college we spoke about the properties of human language. This is a topic that we have talked about many times before. We’ve worked with a chapter of Yule in which he explains 6 characteristics which make human language unique:

1.       DISPLACEMENT: humans can talk about past and future and refer to abstract things.

2.       ARBITRARINESS: there is no natural connection between a word and its meaning.

3.       PRODUCTIVITY: language users manipulate their linguistic resources to produce new expressions. This may also be known as OPEN-ENDEDNESS.

4.       CULTURAL TRANSMISSION: language is transmitted from one generation to the other.

5.       DISCRETENESS: each sound in the language is treated as discrete. Different sounds in words can convey different meanings. Ex: pack-back.

6.       DUALITY: by combining different sound we can produce a large number of combinations. Ex: T- A- E can be TEA of EAT; the same letters can make different words which have different meanings.

These characteristics only correspond to HUMAN language and according to our knowledge we are the only species who can produce speech following the six properties.Before I explain the reason why I’ve been thinking about this topic in particular since Wednesday I would like to share a quote from the book, which is actually the beginning of the chapter:

“I once knew a golden retriever named Newton who had a perverse sense of humor. Whenever I tossed out a Frisbee for him to chase, he’d take off in hot pursuit but then seem to lose track of it. Trotting back and forth only a yard or two from the toy, Newton would look all around, even up into trees. He seemed genuinely baffled. Finally, I’d give up and head into the field to help him out. But no sooner would I get within ten feet of him than he would invariably dash straight over to the Frisbee, grab it and start running like mad, looking over his shoulder with what looked suspiciously like a grin” Michael Lemonick (1993)

Now, I’ve been thinking about these particularities because I witnessed something that can only be described as a conversation. I was outside playing with my dogs. I have five of them, two females and three males. The two females, Laika and Kiara, where looking at the three males playing. They are mothers and sons, Laika has Milo and Casique and Kiara has Otto. While the boys where playing the girls started to have a conversation, in turn each would make a series of sounds and the other one would respond making different sounds. I can even say that the conversation heated up in a moment and then went back to normal. Once they finished speaking they kissed each other and lay close, still looking at their sons.

I know I have used terms which we use to speak about a conversation that two friends might have but I feel as if the terms fit perfectly in this context. I know scientists have recognized an existing language in the bee community and that chimpanzees can imitate human language but, what about dogs? I’ve already told you that I love animals and dogs in particular. I believe they can speak. I believe they have an amazing system of language with its own properties. It would be absurd to think otherwise because it is very similar to the idea that there’s only life on Earth.  

 What do you think? Please, leave a comment!! I really want to believe that I’m not the only one.