Animal communication and human language
Communication can be considered to be important both for animals and human beings.
Communication acts as an adaptation for the animals to survive. In the same way,
communication helps human beings build relationships with one another, allowing them to
share needs, knowledge, and experiences and help to connect with one another. Both animals
and humans communicate by using noises. However, there are significant differences between
animal communication and human language.
One of the most important characteristic features of human language is the duality of
patterning where speech can be analyzed into two levels of structure or patterning; the primary
level and the secondary level. At the primary level, it is made up of small formal units called
morphemes and words. At the secondary level, it is made up of sounds. In other words, speech
in human language can be analyzed into smaller units of sounds or words. A sentence can be
broken down into smaller words and they can further be broken down into smaller units of
sounds. A sentence can also be constructed differently by rearranging the words in it. However,
animal communication cannot be analyzed into words since they only contain cries and noises.
In human language, there are various ways of combining the units and it is called the
creativity. There are no limitations to the length of the sentence and a large number of
constructions can be created by using the basic principles. This property of language which
enables sentences to be formed inside other sentences is called recursiveness. Animals only use
limited signals and it can be said that there is very little creativity or recursiveness. In contrast,
humans can combine signals in various ways and it is called an open-ended system.
Another characteristic feature of human language is arbitrariness which means that there is
no inherent relation between sounds and symbols as well as between sounds and their
references. Thus, it can be said that the relation between a word and its meaning is based on a
random choice or is arbitrary. Therefore, language can be called a system of conventional
symbols.
One huge difference between animal communication and human language is that animal
communication is context-bound and human language is context-free. Since human language is
not directly controlled by stimulus, humans can talk about the events in the past, present, or
future without actually living in them. They can express their feelings and needs through
speech. In animals, they can only respond to the immediate environment and they can only
indicate their wants without producing any combination of words.
Redundancy in human language means
Language is also cultural-preserving and culture-transmitting. Language is known as the most
dynamic form and culture is passed down from one generation to the next using language.
There are also different degrees of politeness used in language based on the different
addresser-addresser interactions.
Last but not least, language is dynamic and not static. It is always changing due to the
generations, changing needs, and the demands of people. It is always changing, through the
evolution of new words, pronunciation, and slang. It keeps on changing at all levels of sounds
words, word-meaning, and sentences.
In conclusion, human language has numerous characteristics of features. These
characteristics features define the human language as a unique and complex system of
communication. In addiction, they are also what makes human language different from animal
communication.
