Experimental Evidence for Phonemic Contrasts in a Nonhuman Vocal System.
Experimental Evidence for Phonemic Contrasts in a Nonhuman Vocal System.
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DOI：
10.1371/journal.pbio.1002171
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发表时间：
2015-06
期刊：
影响因子：
9.8
通讯作者：
Townsend SW
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Engesser S;Crane JM;Savage JL;Russell AF;Townsend SW
通过重新排列无意义的声音组合来产生新意义的能力是语言的基本组成部分。虽然动物的发声通常由无意义的声学元素组合而成，但缺乏证据表明重新排列这些组合会产生功能上不同的意义。在这里，我们提供了证据，证明这一基本能力的栗色冠喋喋不休（Pomatostomus ruficeps）的呼叫，一个高度合作的鸟类在澳大利亚干旱地区。通过声学分析、自然观察和一系列控制回放实验，我们证明了这个物种使用相同的声学元素（a和B）以不同的排列（AB或BAB）来创造两种功能不同的发声。具体来说，在单个位置添加或省略上下文无意义的声学元素会产生类似音素的对比，足以区分两个呼叫之间的意义。我们的研究结果表明，重新排列无意义声音以创造新信号的能力发生在人类之外。我们认为音位对比代表了音位结构的一种基本形式，是人类语言生成音位系统的潜在早期步骤。栗色冠的咿呀学语者是一种来自澳大利亚内陆的群居鸟类，它拥有生成单词的基本能力，这为我们人类生成单词的起源提供了新的线索。语言进化的一个主要问题是它的生成能力是如何产生的。这种能力，使无限的思想和观念得以交流，是人类语言组合特性的结果：无意义的音素可以组合成有意义的单词（音位学），单词可以组合成高阶、有意义的结构（句法）。虽然以前的研究表明动物有可能形成类似句法的结构，但几乎没有令人信服的证据表明动物有基本的音素能力。在这里，我们通过分析结合自然观察和回放实验证明，合作繁殖的栗色冠牙巴重复使用两种毫无意义的声学元素来创造两种功能不同的发声。这一结果表明，音位结构的基本能力发生在人类之外，并为人类语言的生成音位系统之前的潜在早期进化步骤提供了见解。
The ability to generate new meaning by rearranging combinations of meaningless sounds is a fundamental component of language. Although animal vocalizations often comprise combinations of meaningless acoustic elements, evidence that rearranging such combinations generates functionally distinct meaning is lacking. Here, we provide evidence for this basic ability in calls of the chestnut-crowned babbler (Pomatostomus ruficeps), a highly cooperative bird of the Australian arid zone. Using acoustic analyses, natural observations, and a series of controlled playback experiments, we demonstrate that this species uses the same acoustic elements (A and B) in different arrangements (AB or BAB) to create two functionally distinct vocalizations. Specifically, the addition or omission of a contextually meaningless acoustic element at a single position generates a phoneme-like contrast that is sufficient to distinguish the meaning between the two calls. Our results indicate that the capacity to rearrange meaningless sounds in order to create new signals occurs outside of humans. We suggest that phonemic contrasts represent a rudimentary form of phoneme structure and a potential early step towards the generative phonemic system of human language. The chestnut-crowned babbler, a social species of bird from the Australian outback, possesses the basic capacity to generate words, shedding new light on the origins of word generation in our own species. A major question in language evolution is how its generative power emerged. This power, which allows the communication of limitless thoughts and ideas, is a result of the combinatorial nature of human language: meaningless phonemes can be combined to form meaningful words (phonology), and words can be combined to form higher-order, meaningful structures (syntax). While previous work has indicated the potential for animals to form syntax-like constructions, there exists little convincing evidence for a basic phonemic capacity in animals. Here, we demonstrate, using analyses combined with natural observations and playback experiments, that the cooperatively breeding chestnut-crowned babbler reuses two meaningless acoustic elements to create two functionally distinct vocalizations. This result suggests the basic ability for phoneme structuring occurs outside of humans and provides insights into potential early evolutionary steps preceding the generative phonemic system of human language.
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