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Note orders suggest phrase-inserting structure in male Mueller’s gibbon songs: a case study
Acta Ethologica ( IF 1.1 ) Pub Date : 2020-05-09 , DOI: 10.1007/s10211-020-00341-y
Yoichi Inoue , Waidi Sinun , Shigeto Yosida , Kazuo Okanoya

Language has a complex and hierarchical structure, which includes context-free grammar and phrase embedding. However, there have been no reports of a phrase-embedding structure in animal vocal communication, although there are several reports of combinational animal sounds that reference different objects and emotions. The songs of male Mueller’s gibbons in our study area consist of two notes, “wa” and “oo,” and combinations of these are flexible. There are various types of note orders in their song phrases. When the animals sing songs by combining acoustic elements flexibly, a complicated syntax may emerge. When phrase “N” is inserted within another phrase “AB,” the generated phrase is shown as “ANB.” We named this structure a phrase-inserting structure. If the phrase “N” itself has an inserting structure elsewhere, “ANB” is shown as “AABB.” This structure is considered a phrase-embedding structure, as defined by Abe and Watanabe (Nat Neurosci 14:1067–1074, 2011). We hypothesized that there is a phrase-inserting structure in male Mueller’s gibbons’ songs. We analyzed 70 songs by a single male and found note orders that suggested a phrase-inserting structure. Among them, there were four examples of phrases with structure within phrases, suggesting phrase embedding. Phrase inserting might be considered a sort of precursory level to recursion. Although our sample size was small, our results show that male Mueller’s gibbons may be able to produce recursive sequences. This provides an important insight into the study of language evolution.

中文翻译:

音符顺序建议在男性穆勒长臂猿歌曲中插入短语的结构:一个案例研究

语言具有复杂的层次结构,其中包括无上下文语法和短语嵌入。但是,尽管有几份关于组合动物声音的报道引用了不同的对象和情感,但是还没有关于动物语音交流中的短语嵌入结构的报道。我们研究区的男性穆勒长臂猿的歌曲由两个音符“ wa”和“ oo”组成,并且这些组合很灵活。他们的乐句中有各种类型的音符顺序。当动物通过灵活地组合声学元素唱歌时,可能会出现复杂的语法。将短语“ N”插入另一个短语“ AB”时,生成的短语将显示为“ ANB”。我们将此结构命名为词组插入结构。如果短语“ N”本身在其他位置具有插入结构,则“ ANB”显示为“ AABB”。”该结构被认为是词组嵌入结构,由Abe和Watanabe定义(Nat Neurosci 14:1067–1074,2011)。我们假设在男性穆勒长臂猿的歌曲中存在短语插入结构。我们分析了一个单身男性的70首歌曲,发现音符顺序暗示了短语插入结构。其中有四个短语的示例,这些短语在短语中具有结构,表明短语嵌入。短语插入可能被认为是递归的一种先验水平。尽管我们的样本量很小,但我们的结果表明,雄性穆勒长臂猿可能能够产生递归序列。这为语言进化研究提供了重要的见识。我们假设在男性穆勒长臂猿的歌曲中存在短语插入结构。我们分析了一个单身男性的70首歌曲,发现音符顺序暗示了短语插入结构。其中有四个短语的示例,这些短语在短语内具有结构,表明短语嵌入。短语插入可能被认为是递归的一种先验水平。尽管我们的样本量很小,但我们的结果表明,雄性穆勒长臂猿可能能够产生递归序列。这为语言进化研究提供了重要的见识。我们假设在男性穆勒长臂猿的歌曲中存在短语插入结构。我们分析了一个单身男性的70首歌曲,并发现了提示词组插入结构的音符顺序。其中有四个短语的示例,这些短语在短语中具有结构,表明短语嵌入。短语插入可能被认为是递归的一种先验水平。尽管我们的样本量很小,但我们的结果表明,雄性穆勒长臂猿可能能够产生递归序列。这为语言进化研究提供了重要的见识。短语插入可能被认为是递归的一种先验水平。尽管我们的样本量很小,但我们的结果表明,雄性穆勒长臂猿可能能够产生递归序列。这为语言进化研究提供了重要的见识。短语插入可能被认为是递归的一种先验水平。尽管我们的样本量很小,但我们的结果表明,雄性穆勒长臂猿可能能够产生递归序列。这为语言进化研究提供了重要的见识。
更新日期:2020-05-09
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