Do Animal Understand and Use

Do understand and use human languages? Animals do not typically understand or use human languages in the same way that humans do. While some animals can be trained to respond to specific words or commands, their understanding is limited to simple associations and not a deep comprehension of language. However, some animals, like certain primates and dolphins, chimpanzees have shown some ability to learn and use symbolic communication systems, although these are quite different from human languages. In the 1930s, scientists Luella and Winthrop Kellogg reported on their Bilingual Linguistics experience of raising an infant chimpanzee together with their baby son.The chimpanzee, called Gua, was reported to be able to understand about a hundred words, but did not " say " any of them.In the 1940s, a chimpanzee named Viki was reared by another scientist couple, Catherine and Keith Hayes, in their own home, as if she was a human child.• These foster parents spent five years attempting to get Viki to " say " English words by trying to shape her mouth as she produced sounds. Viki eventually managed to produce some words, rather poorly articulated versions of mama ,papa and cup). Recognizing that a chimpanzee was not likely to learn a spoken language, Beatrix and Allen Gardner decided to teach a female chimp called Washoe, a version of American Sign language. At the same time as Washoe was learning sign language, another chimpanzee was being taught (by Ann and David Premack) to use a set of plastic shapes for the purpose of communicating with humans. A similar training technique with another artificial language was used (by Duane Rumbaugh) to train a chimpanzee called Lana. Both Sarah and Lana demonstrated an ability to use what look like word symbols and basic structures that superficially resemble the use of language. Washoe and Kanzi communicated in a system with human beings which human beings also use. Both chimpanzees were unable to use language like a two-year child. However, looking at a two-year child interacting with human beings, and a chimpanzee communicating with humans, at least we can say both are using language. Finally, we can observe the way a human child communicate through language, no other creature seems to use language in this way. DESCRIPTIVE GRAMMAR: A deseriptive gramnar is a set of rules about language based on how it is actually used In a deseriptive gramar there is no nght or wrong language Descrniptive grammarians focus on the way a language is actually used by people They believe that language is neither coect nor incoect and that grammar may follow certain patterns but never nules. So deseriptive grammar is the systematic study and deseription ofa language and refers to thestrncture ofa language as it is actualy used by speakers and writers, For example, A descriptive grammar might inchude 'He goes.." meaning 'He said. Some nules of descriptive grammar are ● Some English speakers end a sentence with a preposition (Who do you want to speak to?) ● Some English speakers nse double negatives for negation (I don't have nothing.) ● Adjectives precede the noluns they modify (red book, nice guy) ● To form the plural of a noun, add -s (1 room, 2 roons, I book,2 books) ● The vowel sound in the word suit is produced with rounded lips. PRESCRIPTIVE GRAMMAR: Prescriptive grammar is the set of nules and exanples dealing with the syntax and word structures of a language, usually intended as an aid to the leaming of that language. Prescriptive grammar refers to the structure of a language as certain people think it should be used. Prescriptive grammarians focus on the "corectmess" of language. They believe that a set of rules governs language's usage. One way to remember this association is to think of going to a doctor's office. When a doctor gives you a preseription for medication, it often includes directions about how you should take your medication as well as what you should not do when taking your medication. In a similar way, a prescriptive grammar tells you how you should speak, and what type of language to avoid Prescriptive grammar lays out rules about the structure of a language. Ulike a deseriptive follow a prescriptive approach and ensure that the grammar you use in your written document strictly adheres to the accepted grammatical rules.However, if you are writing a creative piece, such as a novel, poem or short story, a descriptive approach to grammar can be extremely usefiul as it can help your characters or language to communicate in a manner that mirors the colloquial speech of real people. So both are better in their own way.