A new study finds that humpback whale songs have the same statistical structure as human speech, suggesting that cultural transmission plays a key role in shaping complex communication. Using methods inspired by infant language learning, researchers have identified recurring patterns in whale songs, challenging assumptions about the uniqueness of human language and providing new insights into language evolution.
Humpback whale songs are outstanding examples of complex cultural transmission behaviors. Until now, however, there has been little evidence that it has a language-like structure. Human languages are also passed down through culture, following unique statistical patterns in the frequency of recurring elements.
In humans, these patterns facilitate learning and may aid in the transmission of language from generation to generation. The study took an innovative approach to analyzing humpback whale recordings using methods inspired by how babies recognize words in speech. The findings suggest that whale songs exhibit the same statistical structure as all human languages.
The discovery reveals previously undiscovered patterns in whale songs, highlighting the deep similarities between two otherwise unrelated species - both rely on communication systems for cultural transmission.
Language has long been considered a uniquely human trait, with characteristics that distinguish it from communication in other species. However, research published in Science found that humpback whale songs have the same statistical structure as human speech.
Humpback whale song is a striking example of complex cultural transmission behavior, but so far there is little evidence that it has a language-like structure. Human language is also transmitted through culture, it has recurring parts and its frequency of use follows specific patterns. In humans, these properties aid learning and may also be because they help the transmission of language from generation to generation.
This work innovatively applies methods inspired by how babies detect words in speech to humpback whale recordings, discovering the same statistical structure present in all human languages. The work reveals previously undiscovered structures in whale songs, illustrating deep commonalities between these two unrelated species whose communication systems are transmitted through culture.
The work, led by Professor Inbal Arnon of the Hebrew University, Dr Ellen Garland of the University of St Andrews and Professor Simon Kirby of the University of Edinburgh, with collaboration from Dr Claire Garrig (New Caledonia IRD), Dr Jenny Allen (Griffith University) and Dr Emma Carroll (University of Auckland), is a unique collaboration between linguists, developmental scientists, marine biologists and behavioral ecologists.
The song of the humpback whale is one of the most striking examples of socially learned, culturally transmitted behavior in nonhuman animals. Whale songs exhibit a systematic structure, yet until now there has been little evidence that this structure resembles the structure of human language. One of the challenges in studying nonhuman communication is identifying the relevant parts of the system. The authors' breakthrough was taking insights into how babies detect words in speech and applying them to eight years of humpback whale song data collected in New Caledonia. The authors found that whale songs display the same key statistical properties as all known human languages.
They detected recurring parts whose frequencies followed a peculiar skewed distribution that had not been seen before in any other non-human animal. The study reveals unexpected commonalities between humans and humpback whales, two unrelated species whose communication systems are bound together through cultural transmission. This suggests that learning and diffusion play a crucial role in the formation of such system structures. Fundamental aspects of human language once thought to be hallmarks of human uniqueness may be shared by evolutionarily distant species.
Dr Ellen Garland from the University of St Andrews said: "Revealing this hidden language-like structure in whale song was unexpected, but it strongly suggests that this cultural behavior holds crucial insights into the evolution of complex communication across the animal kingdom. Whale song is not a language and it lacks semantics. It may be more reminiscent of human music, which also has this statistical structure but lacks the expressive meaning found in language. It remains an open question whether the units we detected using the infant heuristic are salient to the whales themselves."
Professor Inbal Arnon from Hebrew University said: "Using insights and methods gained from the process of infants learning language, we have discovered previously undiscovered structures in whale songs. This study shows that learning and cultural transmission can shape the structure of communication systems: we may find that in complex "Wherever sequential behaviors are transmitted through culture, there will be similar statistical structures, and it raises the intriguing possibility that humpback whales may, like human infants, learn their songs by tracking the transition probabilities between sound elements and using the declines in these probabilities as cues to segment the songs."
Professor Simon Kirby from the University of Edinburgh said: "This shows that our understanding of language evolution can benefit not only from our closest primate relatives, but also from examples of convergent evolution elsewhere in nature. In addition to the way language expresses meaning, we should also consider how language is transmitted through learning and culture over many generations. These findings challenge long-held assumptions about the uniqueness of human language, revealing deep commonalities between evolutionarily distant species." "
Compiled from /ScitechDaily
DOI:10.1126/science.adq7055.