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The News site for Linguists |
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16-05-2006
Birds and recursion structure in language
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 California, USA (Scienceweek): It's tempting to summarize the differences between humans and other species in a concise phrase, but most posited differences have turned out to be overstated. New work challenges one more putatively uniquely human adaptation: the capacity to recognize complex "recursive" structure. Gentner et al show that at least one non-human species, the European starling, can be trained to acquire complex recursive grammars such as the AnBn language (in the case of the starling, rattle rattle warble warble).
For more information, please visit:
scienceweek.com/2006/sw060519-4.htm
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