Monkey Say, Monkey Do?

I agree with the statements above. The way animals communicate is similar to the way humans communicate. The different calls that these monkeys are using is kind of like the different laughs or tones humans use in everyday dialect. Depending on the severity or situation the laughs and tones differ just as the calls the monkey gives out to fellow monkeys.

Very interesting article! I certainly agree that animals have their own form of communication. And though it is not the same as ours, meaning none of the grammar and symbols that we have, it certainly has proven to work just as well. After all, what do monkeys or dogs have to say that's really important that they would need more than a couple of sentences. Just curious about the monkey's though, I wonder, what would they do if they saw all three predators at once, or if a new predator that they didn't have a call for came along?

This was a very interesting entry to read. Animals, including humans, use calls and body language to communicate with others in their community and others not even within their species. I didn't even think about classifying animals' calls as language, but thinking about it now, I would definitely say that monkeys, birds, and other animals have their own languages to communicate with others.

The ways that animals communicate is designed to serve a purpose for survival, not a way to have small talk much like we do in our every day lives. While it all remains relatively simple, I wouldn't exactly call it a language. Communication and language are two different things entirely. I turn on my left blinker to communicate with the driver behind me, letting them know that I plan to turn left. That does not exactly mean that we are speaking a language through our blinkers (given that I'm not fluent in Morse Code). Saying that animals speak a language is a little embellishing in my own opinion.

I think this is good subject! What makes a language a language? I believe that the difference between something being just a form of communication and being a language is the level of complexity. A language, as far as the example goes, would let the monkeys describe exactly where, what type, and how the big the snake is. All these monkeys are really doing is giving a simple warning call that basically means "look"!

I think they have a language in the sense that they all know the common "words/sounds" that mean a specific kind of danger. As previously stated, if they had a language they would have more words to describe specific things like location, size, and other characteristics. By saying that these monkeys have a language, one would need to categorize other languages that other animals such as meerkats, dolphins, birds, have.

It's interesting that you don't find grammar rules to be necessary for developing a language, but in this case I would have to agree. The monkeys have their own "codes" for communication with one another that is important to them and their survival, but meaningless to all other animals. Their three calls alert them of various harmful predators and can be the difference between a monkey's life and death. Without this form of communication, no warning of upcoming danger would send the monkeys to safety. It is extremely important to their survival and prosperity.

I agree with the author. Animals do have their own ways of communicating with others and grammar is useless in this context. However, humans too have a way of communicating with others without using grammar. Body language for instance has no need for grammar but is still a useful way of communicating with others. So is grammar really necessary in a "language"? And what are the differences in communication and language?

This reminds me of the "Waggle Dance" that honeybee's, as some have suggested, use as a form of communication. By means of the waggle dance a bee communicates to its hive-mates in which direction they must fly to reach a food source. To, me this suggests that all communication need not be verbal. It only involves transmission of data sender media and receiver. Here bees are using vector to communicate the location of food source.It suggests to me that Nature uses many methods of communication among lots of species.

Very interesting post! I agree, that grammar rules (which are lame anyways), distinct words, and symbols do not need to be in a form of communication to consider it language. Even from the book when we learned about babies "babbling," which clearly has no distinct rules or words, we can interpret babbling (generally accompanied with hand gestures, moves, etc.) as a sign for "more," "less," "food," and just about any basic word a developed speaker can pronounce. By developing basic means of communication for certain stimuli, I would argue that babbling, screeching, etc. is considered language.