¿Morfología en monos? Discusión crítica de un supuesto proceso de afijación en monos en estado salvaje

  1. Longa, Víctor M. 1
  2. López Rivera, Juan J 1
  1. 1 Área de Lingüística General, Universidad de Santiago de Compostela, España.
Revista:
Ludus vitalis: revista de filosofía de las ciencias de la vida = journal of philosophy of life sciences = revue de philosophie des sciences de la vie

ISSN: 1133-5165

Año de publicación: 2012

Volumen: 20

Número: 38

Páginas: 161-191

Tipo: Artículo

Otras publicaciones en: Ludus vitalis: revista de filosofía de las ciencias de la vida = journal of philosophy of life sciences = revue de philosophie des sciences de la vie

Resumen

Monkey’s morphology? A critical appraisal on a supposed morphology-like behavior.According to many ethologists, the vast majority of linguistic properties and features are not uniquely human, but do exist in nonhuman animals as well. Very recently, Ouattara, et al. (2009) have broadened the range of language properties which are supposedly shared by nonhuman organisms: they have claimed that a species of Old World monkeys is endowed with a morphology-like behavior. Our paper has two main objectives: firstly, we aim at critically discussing Ouattara’s claim by showing that the behavior shown by Campbell monkeys has nothing to do with true morphology, if morphology is rigorously considered. Secondly, and more generally, we critically analyze the strategy of attributing linguistic behaviors to animals, which has pervaded ethological studies.

Referencias bibliográficas

  • Anderson, S. (1982), “Where’s morphology?”, Linguistic Inquiry 13: 571-612.
  • Anderson, S. (2004), Doctor Dolittle’s Delusion. Animals and the Uniqueness of Human Language. New Haven: Yale University Press.
  • Anderson, S. y D. Lightfoot (2002), The Language Organ. Linguistics as Cognitive Physiology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  • Arnold, K. y K. Zuberbühler (2006), “Semantic combinations in primate calls”, Nature 441: 303.
  • Aronoff, M. y K. Fudeman (2005), What is Morphology? Malden, MA: Blackwell.
  • Balaban, E. (1988), “Bird song syntax: learned intraspecific variation is meaningful”, Proceedings of the Royal Society, 85: 3657-3660.
  • Bauer, L. (2001), Morphological Productivity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  • Beard, R. (1998), “Derivation”, in A. Spencer y A. Zwicky (eds.), The Handbook of Morphology. Oxford: Blackwell, pp. 44-65.
  • Benveniste, É. (1966), “Communication animale et langage humain”, in Problémes de linguistique générale. París: Gallimard, pp. 56-62 [Cit. por “Comunicación animal y lenguaje humano”, en Problemas de lingüística general I. Méjico: Siglo XXI, 1978, 14ª ed., pp. 56-62].
  • Bickerton, D. (1990), anguage and Species. Chicago: Chicago University Press [Cit. por Lenguaje y especies. Madrid: Alianza, 1994].
  • Bickerton, D. (1998), “Catastrophic evolution: The case for a single step from protolanguage to full human language,” in J. Hurford, M. Studdert-Kennedy y C. Knight (eds.), Approaches to the Evolution of Language. Social and Cognitive Bases. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 341-358.
  • Booij, G. (2000a), “Inflection and derivation,” in G. Booij, et al. (eds.), Vol. 1, cap. 38, pp. 360-369.
  • Booij, G. (2000b), “Morphology and phonology,” in G. Booij, et al. (eds.), Vol. 1, cap. 35, 335-344.
  • Booij, G. (2007), The Grammar of Words. An Introduction to Linguistic Morphology. 2nd ed. New York: Oxford University Press.
  • Booij, G., C. Lehmann y J. Mugdan [con W. Kesselheim y S. Skopeteas] (eds.) (2000), Morphology. An International Handbook on Inflection and Word-Formation. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter.
  • Bosque, I. y M. Pérez Fernández (1987), Diccionario inverso de la lengua española. Madrid: Gredos.
  • Bradshaw, G. (1993), “Beyond animal language,” in H. Roitblat, L. Herman y P. Nachtigall (eds.), Language and Communication. Comparative Perspectives. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum, pp. 25-44.
  • Budiansky, S. (1998), If a Lion Could Talk. Animal Intelligence and the Evolution of Consciousness. New York: Free Press [Cit. por Si los animales hablaran no les entenderíamos. La evolución de la conciencia y la inteligencia. Madrid: Ateles, 2001].
  • Chomsky, N. (1956), “Three models for the description of language”, IRE Transactions on Information Theory 2: 113-124.
  • Chomsky, N. (1959), “On certain formal properties of grammars”, Information and Control 2: 137-167.
  • Cleveland, J. y C. Snowdon (1982), “The complex vocal repertoire of the adult cotton-top tamarin (Saguinus oedipus oedipus)”, Zeitschrift fur Tierpsychologie 58: 231-270.
  • Costall, A. (1998), “Lloyd Morgan, and the rise and fall of ‘animal psychology’”, Society and Animals 6: 13
  • Deacon, T. (1997), The Symbolic Species. The Co-evolution of Language and the Human Brain. London: Penguin.
  • Evans, C. y L. Evans (1999), “Chicken food calls are functionally referential”, Animal Behaviour 58: 307-319.
  • Fitch, W.T. (2010), The Evolution of Language. New York: Cambridge University Press.
  • Fitch, W.T. y M. Hauser (2004), “Computational constraints on syntactic processing in a nonhuman primate”, Science 303: 377-380.
  • Fitzpatrick, S. (2008), “Doing away with Morgan’s Canon”, Mind & Language 23: 224-246.
  • Fitzpatrick, S. (2010), “Building a science of animal minds: Morgan, Romanes and Morgan’s Canon”, ms., John Carroll University.
  • Fouts, R. y S. Mills (1997), Next of Kin. What Chimpanzees Have Taught Me About Who We Are. New York: Morrow.
  • Fukui, N. (2001), “Phrase structure,” in M. Baltin y C. Collins (eds.), The Handbook of Contemporary Syntactic Theory. Malden, MA: Blackwell, pp. 374-406.
  • Gallistel, R. (1990), The Organization of Learning. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
  • Genty, E. y R. Byrne (2010), “Why do gorillas make sequences of gestures?”, Animal Cognition 13: 287-301.
  • Györi, G. (1995), “Animal communication and human language: searching for their evolutionary relationship,” in S. Puppel (ed.), The Biology of Language. Amsterdam: John Benjamins, pp. 99-126.
  • Hacken, P. ten (2000), “Derivation and compounding,” in G. Booij, et al. (eds.), Vol. 1, cap. 37, pp. 349-360.
  • Hailman, J.P. y M.S. Ficken (1987), “Combinatorial animal communication with computable syntax: Chick-a-dee calling qualifies as ‘language’ by structural linguistics”, Animal Behaviour 34: 1899-1901.
  • Hall, C.J. (2000), “Prefixation, suffixation and circumfixation,” in G. Booij, et al. (eds.), Vol. 1, cap. 54, pp. 535-545.
  • Hauser, M. (1996), The Evolution of Communication. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
  • Hauser, M. (2000), Wild Minds. What Animals Really Think. New York: Henry Holt [Cit. por Mentes salvajes. ¿Qué piensan los animales? Buenos Aires: Granica, 2002].
  • Hauser, M., N. Chomsky y W.T. Fitch (2002), “The faculty of language: What is it, who has it, and how did it evolve?”, Science 298: 1569-1579.
  • Haspelmath, M. y A. Sims (2010), Understanding Morphology. 2nd ed. London: Hodder.
  • Hockett, C. (1958), A Course in Modern Linguistics. New York: MacMillan [Cit. por Curso de lingüística moderna. Buenos Aires: Eudeba, 1971].
  • Hockett, C. (1960), “The origin of speech”, Scientific American 203: 89-96.
  • Hoeksema, J. (2000), “Compositionality of meaning,” in G. Booij, et al. (eds.), Vol. 1, cap. 82, pp. 851-857.
  • Hölldobler, B. y E. Wilson (1994), Journey to the Ants. A Story of Scientific Exploration. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
  • Hornstein, N. (2009), A Theory of Syntax. Minimal Operations and Universal Grammar. New York: Cambridge University Press.
  • Hurford, J. (2007), The Origins of Meaning. Language in the Light of Evolution. New York: Oxford University Press.
  • Hurford, J. y D. Dediu (2009), “Diversity in language, genes, and the language faculty,” in R. Botha y C. Knight (eds.), The Cradle of Language. New York: Oxford University Press, pp. 167-188.
  • Kaminski, J., J. Call y J. Fisher (2004), “Word learning in a domestic dog: Evidence for ‘fast mapping’”, Science 304: 1682-1683.
  • Kiefer, F. (2000), “Regularity,” in G. Booij, et al. (eds.), Vol. 1, cap. 32, pp. 296-302.
  • Kimler, W.C. (2000), “Reading Morgan’s Canon: Reduction and unification in the forging of a science of the mind”, American Zoologist 40: 853-861.
  • Koefoed, G. y J. van Marle (2000), “Productivity,” in G. Booij, et al. (eds.), Vol. 1, cap. 33, pp. 303-311.
  • Leger, D.W. (2005), “First documentation of combinatorial song syntax in a suboscine passerine species”, The Condor 107: 765-774.
  • Lewontin, R. (2000), “Foreword,” in S. Oyama, The Ontogeny of Information. Developmental Systems and Evolution. 2nd ed. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, pp. vii-xv.
  • Lieber, R. (2010), Introducing Morphology. New York: Cambridge University Press.
  • Lieberman, P. (1991), Uniquely Human. The Evolution of Speech, Thought and Selfless Behavior. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
  • Lieberman, P. (1992), “Could an autonomous syntax module have evolved?”, Brain and Language 41: 768-774.
  • Lieberman, P. (2003), “Motor control, speech, and the evolution of human language,” in M. Christiansen y S. Kirby (eds.), Language Evolution. New York: Oxford University Press, pp. 255-271.
  • Lieberman, P. (2006), Toward an Evolutionary Biology of Language. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
  • Longa, V. M. (2007), “Sobre la relación entre el lenguaje y la comunicación animal”, Moenia 13, 5-37.
  • Longa, V. M. (2008), “Sobre unha suposta regra sintáctica presente na comunicación de primates en estado salvaxe”, en M. Brea, F. Fernández Rei y X.L. Regueira (eds.), Cada palabra pesaba, cada palabra medía. Homenaxe a Antón Santamarina. Santiago de Compostela: Universidad de Santiago, pp. 257-264.
  • Longa, V. M. (en prensa): Lenguaje humano y comunicación animal: análisis comparativo. Bucaramanga: Universidad Industrial de Santander.
  • Longa, V. M. y J. J. López Rivera (2005), “Pueden adquirir palabras los animales? Sobre el aprendizaje de palabras por un perro”, Estudios de Lingüística. Universidad de Alicante 19: 301-317.
  • Marler, P. (1977), “The structure of animal communication rounds,” en T. Bullock (ed.), Recognition of Complex Acoustic Signals. Berlin: Springer-Verlag, pp. 17-35.
  • Marler, P. (1998), “Animal communication and human language,” in N. Jablonski y L. Aiello (eds.), The Origin and Diversification of Language. San Francisco, CA: California Academy of Sciences, pp. 1-19.
  • Martinet, A. (1949), “La double articulation linguistique”, Travaux du Cercle Linguistique de Copenhague V, 30-37.
  • Martinet, A. (1960), Éléments de linguistique générale. París: Armand Colin.
  • Mather, J.A. (2004), “Cephalopod skin displays: From concealment to communication”, in D. Oller y U. Griebel (eds.), Evolution of Communication Systems: A Comparative Approach. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, pp. 193-213.
  • Mitani, J.C. y P. Marler (1989), “A phonological analysis of male gibbon singing behavior”, Behaviour 109: 20-45.
  • Moles, A. (1969), “The concept of language from the point of view of animal communication,” in T. Sebeok y A. Ramsay (eds.), Approaches to Animal Communication. The Hague: Mouton, pp. 138-145.
  • Morgan, C.L. (1894), An Introduction to Comparative Psychology. London: Walter Scott.
  • Morgan, C.L. (1903), An Introduction to Comparative Psychology. 2nd ed. London: Walter Scott.
  • Moynihan, M. (1985), Communication and Non-communication by Cephalopods. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.
  • Moynihan, M. y A. Rodaniche (1982), “The behavior and natural history of the Caribbean reef squid Sepioteuthis sepioidea with a consideration of social, signal and defensive patterns for difficult and dangerous environments”, Advances in Ethology 25: 1-150. Supl. 25 de Journal of Comparative Ethology. Berlin: Verlag Paul Parey.
  • Naumann, B. (2000), “Derivation,” in G. Booij, et al. (eds.), Vol. 1, cap. 89, pp. 929-943.
  • Ouattara, K., A. Lemasson y K. Zuberbühler (2009), “Campbell monkeys use affixation to alter call meaning”, PLos One 4 (11): e7808.
  • Pepperberg, I. (1999), The Alex Studies. Cognitive and Communicative Abilities of Grey Parrots. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
  • Pepperberg, I. (2004), “Evolution of communication from an avian perspective,” in D.K. Oller y U. Griebel (eds.), Evolution of Communication Systems: A Comparative Approach. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, pp. 171-192.
  • Pilley, J.W. y A.K. Reid (2011), “Border collie comprehends object names as verbal referents”, Behavioural Processes 86 (2): 184-195.
  • Pinker, S. (1994): The Language Instinct. How the Mind Creates Language. New York: William Morrow [Cit. por El instinto del lenguaje. Cómo crea el lenguaje la mente. Madrid: Alianza, 1995].
  • Premack, D. (1970), “Functional analysis of language”,Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior 14: 107-125.
  • Robinson, J.G. (1984), “Syntactic structures in the vocalizations of wedge-capped capuchin monkeys. Cebus nigrivittanus”, Behaviour 90: 46-79.
  • Rondal, J.-A. (2000), Le langage: de l’animal aux origines du langage humain. Sprimont: Mardaga.
  • Saussure, F. de (1916) [ed. por C. Bally y A. Sechehaye]: Cours de linguistique genérale. Paris: Payot [Cit. por Curso de lingüística general. Madrid: Akal, 1980].
  • Savage-Rumbaugh, S. y R. Lewin (1994), Kanzi: The Ape at the Brink of the Human Mind. New York: John Wiley.
  • Savage-Rumbaugh, S., S. Shanker y T. Taylor (1998), Apes, Language, and the Human Mind. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  • Scalise, S. (1984), “Inflection and derivation”. Linguistics 26: 561-582.
  • Segerdahl, P., W. Fields y S. Savage-Rumbaugh (2005), Kanzi’s Primal Language. The Cultural Initiation of Primates into Language. Houndmills: Palgrave Macmillan.
  • Seyfarth, R., D. Cheney y P. Marler (1980a), “Monkey responses to three different alarm calls: evidence of predator classification and semantic communication”, Science 210: 801-803.
  • Seyfarth, R., D. Cheney y P. Marler (1980b), “Vervet monkeys alarm calls: semantic communication
  • Slater, P. (1999), Essentials of Animal Behaviour. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press [Cit. por El comportamiento animal. Madrid: Cambridge University Press, 2000].
  • Snowdon, C. (1993), “Linguistic phenomena in the natural communication of animals,” in H.
  • Roitblat, L. Herman y P. Nachtigall (eds.), Language and Communication. Comparative Perspectives. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum, pp. 175-194.
  • Spelke, E. (2003), “What makes us smart? Core knowledge and natural language,” in D. Gentner y
  • S. Goldin-Meadow (eds.), Language in Mind. Advances in the Study of Language and Thought. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, pp. 277-311.
  • Spencer, A. (2000), “Morphology and syntax,” in G. Booij, et al. (eds.), Vol. 1, cap. 34, pp. 312-334.
  • Spencer, A. y A. Zwicky (1998), “Introduction,” in A. Spencer y A. Zwicky (eds.), The Handbook of Morphology. Oxford: Blackwell, pp. 1-10.
  • Tomasello, M. y J. Call (1997), Primate Cognition. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  • Varela Ortega, S. (1990), Fundamentos de morfología. Madrid: Síntesis.
  • Wallman, J. (1992), Aping Language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  • Wilson, E. (1978), On Human Nature. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press [Cit. por Sobre la naturaleza humana. Madrid: F.C.E., 1983].
  • Zeller, A. (1994), “Evidence of structure in macaque communication,” in R. Gardner, B. Gardner, B. Chiarelli y F. Plooij (eds.), The Ethological Roots of Culture. Dordrecht: Kluwer, pp. 15-39.
  • Zuberbühler, K. (2002), “A syntactic rule in forest monkey communication”, Animal Behaviour 63: 293-299.