Friday, January 23, 2009

Language

Even though some cling to the idea that language is unique to humans, there has been a lot of proof over the years that it is not--a wide range of animals, from gorillas to bees, have been proven to have language.

Most studies focus on primates, because their methods of expression tend to be very human-like. That makes the study involving prairie dogs all the more remarkable, because the researchers not only were able to recognize the presence of language, but also decipher it, and show that prairie dog language involves nouns and adjectives and the ability to coin new, meaningful words.

I refer you to this page: Prairie Dog Language? because it not only describes the study and includes links with more detail, but it also deals with many of the objections and false explanations people raise to try to cling to the idea that language is unique to humans.

As always, I hope to receive your comments on this subject or any of the issues raised on that web page.

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