Functional Dimensions of Ape-Human Discourse
Edited by
James D. Benson [+–]
York University, Toronto
James D. Benson is Professor Emeritus and Senior Scholar in the English at Glendon College, York University, Toronto. He is co-author (with William S. Greaves) of You and Your Language: The Kinds of English you Use (Pergamon Press, 1984).
William S. Greaves † [+–]
York University, Toronto
William S. Greaves, who died in September, 2014, was Professor Emeritus and Senior Scholar, Department of English, Glendon College, York University, Toronto.
PAPERBACK PUBLISHED JULY 2009
Functional Dimensions of Ape-Human Discourse asks the question ‘what do interactions between apes and humans mediated by language tell us?’. In order to answer this question the authors explore language-in-context, drawing on a multi-leveled, multi-functional linguistics. The levels are context of culture, context of situation, semantics, lexicogrammar, and phonology; and the functions are ideational, interpersonal, and textual.
Chapter One discusses a negotiation between the bonobo Kanzi and Sue Savage-Rumbaugh in terms of discourse-semantics and the ideational and interpersonal metafunctions of lexicogrammar. Chapter Two reinterprets Sue Savage-Rumbaugh et. al. Language Comprehension in Ape and Child (1993) in terms of the ideational metafunction, and provides corroborative evidence for Kanzi’s symbolic processing abilities, opening a window into the consciousness of at least one non-human primate. Chapter Three compares three snapshots from comprehensive studies based on large amounts of data (monkey calls, language development in a human child, and a dialogue between Kanzi’s sibling Panbanisha and Sue Savage-Rumbaugh) from an evolutionary perspective, showing different ways in which the level of grammar comes to be wedged in between semantics and expression. Chapter Four articulates a methodology incorporating public domain software for the comprehensive analysis of ape-human interaction. Although bonobo-human interaction is used as an example, the methodology could be utilized for studies of chimpanzees, gorillas, and orangutans.
Series: Functional Linguistics
Table of Contents
Prelims
List of contributors [+–] vi
York University, Toronto
James D. Benson is Professor Emeritus and Senior Scholar in the English at Glendon College, York University, Toronto. He is co-author (with William S. Greaves) of You and Your Language: The Kinds of English you Use (Pergamon Press, 1984).
York University, Toronto
William S. Greaves, who died in September, 2014, was Professor Emeritus and Senior Scholar, Department of English, Glendon College, York University, Toronto.
Functional Dimensions of Ape-Human Discourse asks the question ‘what do interactions between apes and humans mediated by language tell us?’. In order to answer this question the authors explore language-in-context, drawing on a multi-leveled, multi-functional linguistics. The levels are context of culture, context of situation, semantics, lexicogrammar, and phonology; and the functions are ideational, interpersonal, and textual. Chapter One discusses a negotiation between the bonobo Kanzi and Sue Savage-Rumbaugh in terms of discourse-semantics and the ideational and interpersonal metafunctions of lexicogrammar. Chapter Two reinterprets Sue Savage-Rumbaugh et. al. Language Comprehension in Ape and Child (1993) in terms of the ideational metafunction, and provides corroborative evidence for Kanzi’s symbolic processing abilities, opening a window into the consciousness of at least one non-human primate. Chapter Three compares three snapshots from comprehensive studies based on large amounts of data (monkey calls, language development in a human child, and a dialogue between Kanzi’s sibling Panbanisha and Sue Savage-Rumbaugh) from an evolutionary perspective, showing different ways in which the level of grammar comes to be wedged in between semantics and expression. Chapter Four articulates a methodology incorporating public domain software for the comprehensive analysis of ape-human interaction. Although bonobo-human interaction is used as an example, the methodology could be utilized for studies of chimpanzees, gorillas, and orangutans.
Preface [+–] 1-3
York University, Toronto
James D. Benson is Professor Emeritus and Senior Scholar in the English at Glendon College, York University, Toronto. He is co-author (with William S. Greaves) of You and Your Language: The Kinds of English you Use (Pergamon Press, 1984).
York University, Toronto
William S. Greaves, who died in September, 2014, was Professor Emeritus and Senior Scholar, Department of English, Glendon College, York University, Toronto.
Functional Dimensions of Ape-Human Discourse asks the question ‘what do interactions between apes and humans mediated by language tell us?’. In order to answer this question the authors explore language-in-context, drawing on a multi-leveled, multi-functional linguistics. The levels are context of culture, context of situation, semantics, lexicogrammar, and phonology; and the functions are ideational, interpersonal, and textual. Chapter One discusses a negotiation between the bonobo Kanzi and Sue Savage-Rumbaugh in terms of discourse-semantics and the ideational and interpersonal metafunctions of lexicogrammar. Chapter Two reinterprets Sue Savage-Rumbaugh et. al. Language Comprehension in Ape and Child (1993) in terms of the ideational metafunction, and provides corroborative evidence for Kanzi’s symbolic processing abilities, opening a window into the consciousness of at least one non-human primate. Chapter Three compares three snapshots from comprehensive studies based on large amounts of data (monkey calls, language development in a human child, and a dialogue between Kanzi’s sibling Panbanisha and Sue Savage-Rumbaugh) from an evolutionary perspective, showing different ways in which the level of grammar comes to be wedged in between semantics and expression. Chapter Four articulates a methodology incorporating public domain software for the comprehensive analysis of ape-human interaction. Although bonobo-human interaction is used as an example, the methodology could be utilized for studies of chimpanzees, gorillas, and orangutans.
1
James D. Benson,Peter H. Fries,William S. Greaves † ,Kazuyoshi Iwamoto,Sue Savage-Rumbaugh,Jared P. Taglialatela £17.50
York University, Toronto
James D. Benson is Professor Emeritus and Senior Scholar in the English at Glendon College, York University, Toronto. He is co-author (with William S. Greaves) of You and Your Language: The Kinds of English you Use (Pergamon Press, 1984).
Central Michigan University
York University, Toronto
William S. Greaves, who died in September, 2014, was Professor Emeritus and Senior Scholar, Department of English, Glendon College, York University, Toronto.
Kyorin University, Tokyo
Kazuyoshi Iwamoto is an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Foreign Studies at Kyorin University in Tokyo, Japan. After receiving his bachelor’s degree in English language from Kyorin University, he went to Central Michigan University to study TESOL for his Master’s degree. There, while completing his degree, he became interested in the relationship between grammar and phonology, and he later obtained his PhD from York University, Canada. His research interests include the relationship between systemic phonology, thematic development in English texts, paragraphing from a systemic functional perspective, and human–bonobo discourse.
Sue Savage-Rumbaugh is a psychologist and primatologist most known for her work with two bonobos, Kanzi and Panbanisha, investigating their linguistic and cognitive abilities using lexigrams and computer-based keyboards.
RESEARCH INTERESTS:
• The evolutionary origins of human language
• Nonhuman animal communicative behavior (esp. primate vocal and gestural
communication) and the biological substrates that mediate these behaviors
• Animal cognition and its biological basis
• The evolution of neuroanatomical asymmetries as well as their behavioral relevance
• The evolutionary origins of human language
• Nonhuman animal communicative behavior (esp. primate vocal and gestural
communication) and the biological substrates that mediate these behaviors
• Animal cognition and its biological basis
• The evolution of neuroanatomical asymmetries as well as their behavioral relevance
As part of a program to explore the communicative abilities of bonobo apes within the human-ape culture at the Language Research Center at Georgia State University, this chapter offers two complementary analyses of a conversation between Sue Savage-Rumbaugh and Kanzi. Both a conversation analysis and a lexicogrammatical analysis of their interaction are provided.
2
The ideational dimension: evidence for symbolic language processing in a bonobo (Pan paniscus) [+–] 46-75
York University, Toronto
James D. Benson is Professor Emeritus and Senior Scholar in the English at Glendon College, York University, Toronto. He is co-author (with William S. Greaves) of You and Your Language: The Kinds of English you Use (Pergamon Press, 1984).
York University, Toronto
William S. Greaves, who died in September, 2014, was Professor Emeritus and Senior Scholar, Department of English, Glendon College, York University, Toronto.
Universidad Autónoma de Madrid
Lecturer in the Department of English Studies at the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid.
RESEARCH INTERESTS:
• The evolutionary origins of human language
• Nonhuman animal communicative behavior (esp. primate vocal and gestural
communication) and the biological substrates that mediate these behaviors
• Animal cognition and its biological basis
• The evolution of neuroanatomical asymmetries as well as their behavioral relevance
• The evolutionary origins of human language
• Nonhuman animal communicative behavior (esp. primate vocal and gestural
communication) and the biological substrates that mediate these behaviors
• Animal cognition and its biological basis
• The evolution of neuroanatomical asymmetries as well as their behavioral relevance
This chapter reinterprets the findings of Savage-Rumbaugh et al. (1993) using the twin tools of Deacon’s referential hierarchy and Systemic Functional Linguistics, with a view to providing further corroborative evidence for a bonobo ape’s symbolic processing abilities, and as a result to open a window into the consciousness of at least one non-human primate.
3
James D. Benson,William S. Greaves † ,Sue Savage-Rumbaugh,Jared P. Taglialatela,Paul J. Thibault £17.50
York University, Toronto
James D. Benson is Professor Emeritus and Senior Scholar in the English at Glendon College, York University, Toronto. He is co-author (with William S. Greaves) of You and Your Language: The Kinds of English you Use (Pergamon Press, 1984).
York University, Toronto
William S. Greaves, who died in September, 2014, was Professor Emeritus and Senior Scholar, Department of English, Glendon College, York University, Toronto.
Sue Savage-Rumbaugh is a psychologist and primatologist most known for her work with two bonobos, Kanzi and Panbanisha, investigating their linguistic and cognitive abilities using lexigrams and computer-based keyboards.
RESEARCH INTERESTS:
• The evolutionary origins of human language
• Nonhuman animal communicative behavior (esp. primate vocal and gestural
communication) and the biological substrates that mediate these behaviors
• Animal cognition and its biological basis
• The evolution of neuroanatomical asymmetries as well as their behavioral relevance
• The evolutionary origins of human language
• Nonhuman animal communicative behavior (esp. primate vocal and gestural
communication) and the biological substrates that mediate these behaviors
• Animal cognition and its biological basis
• The evolution of neuroanatomical asymmetries as well as their behavioral relevance
University of Agder
Paul J. Thibault is professor in linguistics and communication studies in the Faculty of Humanities and Education, University of Agder, Kristiansand, Norway. He also currently holds the posts of Honorary Professor in the School of Foreign Languages and Literatures at Beijing Normal University and Honorary Associate Professor in the Faculty of Education, University of Hong Kong. He has held full-time appointments in the University of Hong Kong (2009-2012), Lingnan University, Hong Kong (2002), the University of Venice (1994-2005), the University of Padua (1992-1994), the University of Bologna (1984-1986, 1990-1992), and the University of Sydney (1986-1988), and Murdoch University (1982-1983). He completed his Ph.D., which was supervised by Professor M. A. K. Halliday and Professor Roger Fowler, at the University of Sydney in 1985. He is the recipient of various honours and awards, including, most recently, a University of Cambridge/University of Hong Kong Doris Zimmern research fellowship at Hughes Hall, University of Cambridge (2011) and in September 2012 he was appointed Associate Editor of Language Sciences. He was a member of the international Organizing Committee of the 1st International Conference on Interactivity, Language and Cognition (CILC2012) held at the University of Southern Denmark, Odense campus, 12th-14th September 2012. He is co-editor (with Anthony Baldry) of the book series English Linguistics and ELT, published by Equinox, London. His research interests include: distributed language and cognition, discourse analysis, functional grammar and semantics, educational linguistics, language development, multimodality and multimodal corpora, social theory, the bodily basis of cognition and semiosis, narrative theory, and philosophy of mind. His published books include: Social Semiotics as Praxis (Minnesota, 1991), Re-reading Saussure (Routledge, 1997), Discussing Conversation Analysis: The work of Emanuel A. Schegloff (ed., Benjamins, 2003), Language and Interaction: Discussions with John J. Gumperz (ed., Benjamins, 2003), Brain, Mind, and the Signifying Body: An ecosocial semiotic theory (Continuum, 2004), Agency and Consciousness in Discourse: Self-other dynamics as a complex system (Continuum, 2004), Multimodal Transcription and Multimodal Text Analysis (with Anthony Baldry) (Equinox, 2006) together with articles and book chapters. He is currently working on two new book-length projects: (1) Language, Body, World: A critical rereading of Hjelmslev; and (2) Distributed Language: The extended human ecology.
This chapter examines three snapshots taken from comprehensive studies with large amounts of data: evidence for proto-metafunctional differentiation in monkeys, evidence in a human child for the transition from indexical call systems to ideationally and interpersonally differentiated symbolic lexicogrammar and evidence in a bonobo-human interaction for the interpretation of ideationally and interpersonally differentiated human lexicogrammar.
4
The multistratal dimension: a methodology for phonemic analysis of vocalizations of language competent bonobos [+–] 100-119
James D. Benson,Meena Debashish,William S. Greaves † ,Jennifer Lukas,Sue Savage-Rumbaugh,Jared P. Taglialatela £17.50
York University, Toronto
James D. Benson is Professor Emeritus and Senior Scholar in the English at Glendon College, York University, Toronto. He is co-author (with William S. Greaves) of You and Your Language: The Kinds of English you Use (Pergamon Press, 1984).
EFL University, Hyderabad, India
Associate Professor, Dept of Phonetics and Spoken English, School of Language Sciences, EFL University, Hyderabad -500007 India
York University, Toronto
William S. Greaves, who died in September, 2014, was Professor Emeritus and Senior Scholar, Department of English, Glendon College, York University, Toronto.
Sue Savage-Rumbaugh is a psychologist and primatologist most known for her work with two bonobos, Kanzi and Panbanisha, investigating their linguistic and cognitive abilities using lexigrams and computer-based keyboards.
RESEARCH INTERESTS:
• The evolutionary origins of human language
• Nonhuman animal communicative behavior (esp. primate vocal and gestural
communication) and the biological substrates that mediate these behaviors
• Animal cognition and its biological basis
• The evolution of neuroanatomical asymmetries as well as their behavioral relevance
• The evolutionary origins of human language
• Nonhuman animal communicative behavior (esp. primate vocal and gestural
communication) and the biological substrates that mediate these behaviors
• Animal cognition and its biological basis
• The evolution of neuroanatomical asymmetries as well as their behavioral relevance
This chapter focuses on the process of discrimination through choices within systems at all strata, but in particular those systems related to sound which make it possible for an English speaking human interpreter to recognize English words in the distinctly non-human sounds emitted by a language competent bonobo engaged in discourse with the human.
End Matter
Index [+–] 120-122
York University, Toronto
James D. Benson is Professor Emeritus and Senior Scholar in the English at Glendon College, York University, Toronto. He is co-author (with William S. Greaves) of You and Your Language: The Kinds of English you Use (Pergamon Press, 1984).
PAPERBACK PUBLISHED JULY 2009 Functional Dimensions of Ape-Human Discourse asks the question ‘what do interactions between apes and humans mediated by language tell us?’. In order to answer this question the authors explore language-in-context, drawing on a multi-leveled, multi-functional linguistics. The levels are context of culture, context of situation, semantics, lexicogrammar, and phonology; and the functions are ideational, interpersonal, and textual. Chapter One discusses a negotiation between the bonobo Kanzi and Sue Savage-Rumbaugh in terms of discourse-semantics and the ideational and interpersonal metafunctions of lexicogrammar. Chapter Two reinterprets Sue Savage-Rumbaugh et. al. Language Comprehension in Ape and Child (1993) in terms of the ideational metafunction, and provides corroborative evidence for Kanzi’s symbolic processing abilities, opening a window into the consciousness of at least one non-human primate. Chapter Three compares three snapshots from comprehensive studies based on large amounts of data (monkey calls, language development in a human child, and a dialogue between Kanzi’s sibling Panbanisha and Sue Savage-Rumbaugh) from an evolutionary perspective, showing different ways in which the level of grammar comes to be wedged in between semantics and expression. Chapter Four articulates a methodology incorporating public domain software for the comprehensive analysis of ape-human interaction. Although bonobo-human interaction is used as an example, the methodology could be utilized for studies of chimpanzees, gorillas, and orangutans.
ISBN-13 (Hardback)
9781904768050
Price (Hardback)
£75.00 / $95.00
ISBN-13 (Paperback)
9781845536534
Price (Paperback)
£24.95 / $29.95
ISBN (eBook)
9781845535629
Price (eBook)
Individual
£24.95 / $29.95
Institutional
£75.00 / $95.00
£24.95 / $29.95
Institutional
£75.00 / $95.00
Publication
01/11/2005
Pages
128
Size
234 x 156mm
Readership
Researchers
Illustration
24 line drawings and 11 black and white half tones