The nature, function and evolution of signal complexity in animal and human communication systems

我研究人类和动物交流的结构和功能特性。目标是确定影响通信系统进化的一般原理以及支持这些原理的解剖学、行为学、知觉和认知过程。最终，这将帮助我们理解人类语言的进化，特别是，这是我们物种的一个关键事件，对行为，认知和技术产生了深远的长期影响，但其时间和促成因素仍然知之甚少。我一般用两种方法来解决这些问题：通过直接研究当代语言的特定属性来洞察语言的当前组织及其与行为和认知的联系；2. 通过研究其他物种中类似的通信特性，来确定通信系统可能采取的替代组织和进化路径。这项资助的重点是信号复杂性的本质、组织和进化，以及它是否基于人类语言和物种之间共同的生物过程。一项研究考察了在人类中发现的一种新的词形偏见，并开始测试其跨语言流行程度，以及所涉及的发音和感知过程，这些过程可能促进或限制语音和词汇的多样化，并影响语言的可学习性。它还测试了一个新的假设，即人类喉部的下降位置在进化中被语音和词汇多样化所选择，而不是它们的驱动力，这对语言起源的时间以及由此产生的行为、文化和认知现象的出现有着更广泛的影响。第二方面的研究重点是将鸟鸣作为评估信号复杂性的性质和进化的替代模型。项目重点是类似的发音和知觉因素可能影响鸟类鸣叫的信号变化。他们还探讨了类似语言的方言过程在促进鸟类区域鸣叫和遗传多样性以及可能的物种形成中的作用。

I research structural and functional properties of human and animal communication. The goal is to identify general principles affecting the evolution of communication systems and the anatomical, behavioural, perceptual and cognitive processes that support them. Ultimately, this will help us to understand the evolution of human language, in particular, which was a key event for our species with profound long-term consequences for behaviour, cognition and technology but whose timing and precipitating factors remain poorly understood. I tackle these problems in two general ways: 1. By studying specific properties of contemporary language directly to gain insight into the current organization of language and its connections to behavior and cognition, and; 2. By studying similar properties of communication in other species to identify alternative possible organizations and evolutionary paths communication systems can take. This grant focuses on the nature, organization and evolution of signal complexity and the possiblity that it is grounded in biological processes common across human languages and possibly also across species. One line of research examines a novel word form bias identified in humans, and begins to test its cross-language prevalence and the articulatory and perceptual processes involved that might facilitate or constrain phonetic and lexical diversification and also influence language learnability. It also tests a novel hypothesis that the descended position of the larynx in humans was evolutionarily co-opted to phonetic and lexical diversification rather than their driving force, which has broader implications for the timing of language origins and also for the emergence of behavioral, cultural, and cognitive phenomena assumed to flow from it. A second line of research focuses on birdsong as an alternative model for evaluating the nature and evolution of signal complexity. Projects focus on analogous articulatory and perceptual factors potentially influencing signal variety in birdsong. They also address the role of language-like, dialect processes in spurring regional song and genetic diversity in birds and possibly speciation.