ANT102H5 Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Michael Tomasello, Hominidae, Sign Language
ANT102 LECTURE 3 Properties of the Linguistic Code
Animals tend not to communicate intentionally; with some exceptions : Great Apes
With pretty much no exceptions animals cannot communicate referentially
Great Apes have the capacity to communicate intentionally and voluntarily.
Hominidae (Great Apes) Chimps, Gorilla, Orangutan, Humans
Chimps + Bonobos are more closely related to humans than to gorillas, they had a common 6 m years
ago, while they did 8 m years ago.
Culture is a distinguisher b/w humans and other great apes
Use of tools and language
Some primates are capable of tool use and construction. Some of them have a rudimentary culture.
Ape genius – movie that is supplementary to what Michael Tomasello was talking about
The evidence was inconclusive, but the chimp was put into a human family.
There are some physical limitations that prevent chimps from producing spoken human language. In
humans these structures have evolved to allow for speech.
Sign language is used to teach the chimps.
They could learn and combine the signs in some sort of a rudimentary syntax
Hockett’s Productivity- he was writing around the time that Noam Chomsky was revolutionizing
linguistics.
Given the nature of our language, we can use a limited vocabulary to form an unlimited amount of
sentences. This is seen as the key property of language. In this sense, the chimp Washoe is doing exactly
this.
Generativist argument: this animal is not actually combining signs, it is using a combination of
movements as a single sign.
Human children – at around 9 months use things like holophrases. They are chunks of language not
produced by using productivity.
Michael Tomasello- linguist/psychologist – he argues that language is unique to humans, but it’s not
because animals lack the productive capacity. He documents that they do combine signs in various ways.
Rather they lack the ability and motivation to share info by using references (pointing to things).
They don’t have the joint attention frames that are required to form language.
They are capable of flexible sign use, and attending to the attention of others. They can follow the gaze
of others and know when another ape is looking. Wait to do their gestures in full view and have
attention getting gestures.
According to Tomasello, what they lack is the social motivation.
Humans have this propensity to share and cooperate.
Hockett compares primate vocalizations to that of humans.
There was an earlier assumption that primate vocalizations are the closest thing to human language in
the animal world and may be the origins of human language. Tomasello argues against this, says that
gesturing is the closest thing to human language.
Gibbon calls one of the most complex forms of primate vocalizations.
Primate vocalization more developed in monkeys than apes, but they are largely involuntary and
unintentional.
These vocalization developed on a separate evolutionary branch.
Eg. Vervet monkeys- snake calls.
Gestures are closer to human language because they are voluntary and intentional.
2 basic types: intention movements and attention getters
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