Overlooked evidence for semantic compositionality and signal reduction in wild chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes)

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• Naslov (hrvatski): Previđeni dokazi za semantičku kompozicionalnost i redukciju signala kod divljih čimpanzi (Pan troglodytes)
• Autor: Petar Gabrić https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2644-194X
• Znanstveno / umjetničko područje, polje i grana: HUMANISTIČKE ZNANOSTI; Filologija; Opće jezikoslovlje (lingvistika)
• Znanstveno / umjetničko područje, polje i grana: INTERDISCIPLINARNA PODRUČJA ZNANOSTI; Kognitivna znanost (prirodne, tehničke, biomedicina i zdravstvo, društvene i humanističke znanosti)
• Znanstveno / umjetničko područje, polje i grana: PRIRODNE ZNANOSTI; Biologija; Zoologija
• Znanstveno / umjetničko područje, polje i grana: PRIRODNE ZNANOSTI; Biologija; Genetika, evolucija i filogenija
• Znanstveno / umjetničko područje, polje i grana: DRUŠTVENE ZNANOSTI; Psihologija; Opća psihologija

Sažetak (engleski)

Recent discoveries of semantic compositionality in Japanese tits have enlivened the discussions on the presence of this phenomenon in wild animal communication. Data on semantic compositionality in wild apes are lacking, even though language experiments with captive apes have demonstrated they are capable of semantic compositionality. In this paper, I revisit the study by Boesch (Hum. Evol. 6:81–89, 1991) who investigated drumming sequences by an alpha male in a chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) community in the Taï National Park, Côte d’Ivoire. A reanalysis of the data reveals that the alpha male produced semantically compositional combined messages of travel direction change and resting period initiation. Unlike the Japanese tits, the elements of the compositional expression were not simply juxtaposed but displayed structural reduction, while one of the two elements in the expression coded the meanings of both elements. These processes show relative resemblance to blending and fusion in human languages. Also unlike the tits, the elements of the compositional expression did not have a fixed order, although there was a fixed distribution of drumming events across the trees used for drumming. Because the elements of the expression appear to carry verb-like meanings, the compositional expression also resembles simple verb-verb constructions and short paratactic combinations of two clauses found across languages. In conclusion, the reanalysis suggests that semantic compositionality and phenomena resembling paratactic combinations of two clauses might have been present in the communication of the last common ancestor of chimpanzees and humans, not necessarily in the vocal modality.

• Ključne riječi (engleski): chimpanzee communication; animal communication; language evolution; semantic compositionality; non-vocal communication
• Ključne riječi (hrvatski): komunikacija čimpanzi; životinjska komunikacija; evolucija jezika; semantička kompozicionalnost; nevokalna komunikacija
• Jezik: engleski
• Vrsta publikacije: Znanstveni rad - Izvorni znanstveni rad
• Status objave: Prihvaćen za objavljivanje
• Vrsta recenzije: Recenziran - međunarodna recenzija
• Verzija publikacije: Objavljena verzija rada (izdavačev PDF)
• Naslov časopisa: Animal Cognition
• BPC: 2590.00 EUR
• p-ISSN: 1435-9448
• e-ISSN: 1435-9456
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10071-021-01584-3
• URN:NBN: urn:nbn:hr:131:709733
• Datum objave elektroničkog izdanja: 2021-11-25
• URL dokumenta: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10071-021-01584-3
• Vrsta resursa: Tekst
• Prava pristupa: Otvoreni pristup
• Javna napomena: Open Access funding enabled and organized by Projekt DEAL.
• Datum i vrijeme pohrane: 2021-11-25 18:16:36