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How is human language different from animal communication systems?
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Language
Spoken language is just one type of language, which has been defined in many different ways across history.
Human language is a species-specific system that differs fundamentally from animal communication in several key ways. While many animals possess the ability to communicate through vocalizations, gestures, or other signals to coordinate behaviors like mating, territorial defense, or warning of predators, these systems are typically tightly circumscribed and limited in scope.123
The most significant distinctions include:
- Infinite Productivity and Creativity: Human language allows for the expression of an unlimited range of ideas and experiences. Humans can communicate about situations that have never occurred, are purely hypothetical, or exist outside of immediate time and space—a concept known as displaced reference.13
- Arbitrariness and Convention: In human language, the relationship between a word and its referent is arbitrary and conventional, requiring specific learning. Many words also lack a physical referent entirely.3
- Syntactic Structure: Humans combine words into sentences using general rules of syntax. Changing the order of words can fundamentally alter the meaning of an utterance, allowing for the construction of an indefinite number of unique sequences.3
While some animal species, such as bees, exhibit limited displaced reference, and certain primates have shown success in learning sign language or symbolic tokens, these performances remain controversial and distinct from the flexible, innovative nature of human speech.13