The Experts below are selected from a list of 327 Experts worldwide ranked by ideXlab platform
Toshitaka N. Suzuki - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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the syntax Semantics Interface in animal vocal communication
Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B, 2020Co-Authors: Toshitaka N. Suzuki, David Wheatcroft, Michael GriesserAbstract:Syntax (rules for combining words or elements) and Semantics (meaning of expressions) are two pivotal features of human language, and interaction between them allows us to generate a limitless number of meaningful expressions. While both features were traditionally thought to be unique to human language, research over the past four decades has revealed intriguing parallels in animal communication systems. Many birds and mammals produce specific calls with distinct meanings, and some species combine multiple meaningful calls into syntactically ordered sequences. However, it remains largely unclear whether, like phrases or sentences in human language, the meaning of these call sequences depends on both the meanings of the component calls and their syntactic order. Here, leveraging recently demonstrated examples of meaningful call combinations, we introduce a framework for exploring the interaction between syntax and Semantics (i.e. the syntax-semantic Interface) in animal vocal sequences. We outline methods to test the cognitive mechanisms underlying the production and perception of animal vocal sequences and suggest potential evolutionary scenarios for syntactic communication. We hope that this review will stimulate phenomenological studies on animal vocal sequences as well as experimental studies on the cognitive processes, which promise to provide further insights into the evolution of language. This article is part of the theme issue 'What can animal communication teach us about human language?'
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The syntax-Semantics Interface in animal vocal communication.
Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B Biological sciences, 2019Co-Authors: Toshitaka N. Suzuki, David Wheatcroft, Michael GriesserAbstract:Syntax (rules for combining words or elements) and Semantics (meaning of expressions) are two pivotal features of human language, and interaction between them allows us to generate a limitless numb...
Michael Griesser - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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the syntax Semantics Interface in animal vocal communication
Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B, 2020Co-Authors: Toshitaka N. Suzuki, David Wheatcroft, Michael GriesserAbstract:Syntax (rules for combining words or elements) and Semantics (meaning of expressions) are two pivotal features of human language, and interaction between them allows us to generate a limitless number of meaningful expressions. While both features were traditionally thought to be unique to human language, research over the past four decades has revealed intriguing parallels in animal communication systems. Many birds and mammals produce specific calls with distinct meanings, and some species combine multiple meaningful calls into syntactically ordered sequences. However, it remains largely unclear whether, like phrases or sentences in human language, the meaning of these call sequences depends on both the meanings of the component calls and their syntactic order. Here, leveraging recently demonstrated examples of meaningful call combinations, we introduce a framework for exploring the interaction between syntax and Semantics (i.e. the syntax-semantic Interface) in animal vocal sequences. We outline methods to test the cognitive mechanisms underlying the production and perception of animal vocal sequences and suggest potential evolutionary scenarios for syntactic communication. We hope that this review will stimulate phenomenological studies on animal vocal sequences as well as experimental studies on the cognitive processes, which promise to provide further insights into the evolution of language. This article is part of the theme issue 'What can animal communication teach us about human language?'
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The syntax-Semantics Interface in animal vocal communication.
Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B Biological sciences, 2019Co-Authors: Toshitaka N. Suzuki, David Wheatcroft, Michael GriesserAbstract:Syntax (rules for combining words or elements) and Semantics (meaning of expressions) are two pivotal features of human language, and interaction between them allows us to generate a limitless numb...
Joan Maling - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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On a post-syntactic account of the generic Middle Construction Markus Steinbach, Middle Voice: a comparative study in the syntax–Semantics Interface of German (Linguistik Aktuell/Linguistics Today 50). Amsterdam: John Benjamins, 2002. Pp. xii+340.
Journal of Linguistics, 2006Co-Authors: Kjartan Ottosson, Joan MalingAbstract:A perennially challenging topic in generative syntax, the Middle Construction, has been the topic of several recent dissertations, including the book under review. Although not acknowledged as such in the published book, this is a moderately revised version of the Dr. Phil. (Promotion) dissertation, Middles in German: the syntax and Semantics of transitive reflexive sentences , defended at the Humboldt-Universitat in Berlin in 1998. Steinbach's book is clearly the fullest treatment of the Middle Construction in German published in recent times. It presents an original and challenging analysis of this construction and offers a wealth of penetrating observations. As is natural for a review article, however, we will focus more on what we see as the problems and weaknesses of Steinbach's analysis than on the book's virtues.
David Wheatcroft - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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the syntax Semantics Interface in animal vocal communication
Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B, 2020Co-Authors: Toshitaka N. Suzuki, David Wheatcroft, Michael GriesserAbstract:Syntax (rules for combining words or elements) and Semantics (meaning of expressions) are two pivotal features of human language, and interaction between them allows us to generate a limitless number of meaningful expressions. While both features were traditionally thought to be unique to human language, research over the past four decades has revealed intriguing parallels in animal communication systems. Many birds and mammals produce specific calls with distinct meanings, and some species combine multiple meaningful calls into syntactically ordered sequences. However, it remains largely unclear whether, like phrases or sentences in human language, the meaning of these call sequences depends on both the meanings of the component calls and their syntactic order. Here, leveraging recently demonstrated examples of meaningful call combinations, we introduce a framework for exploring the interaction between syntax and Semantics (i.e. the syntax-semantic Interface) in animal vocal sequences. We outline methods to test the cognitive mechanisms underlying the production and perception of animal vocal sequences and suggest potential evolutionary scenarios for syntactic communication. We hope that this review will stimulate phenomenological studies on animal vocal sequences as well as experimental studies on the cognitive processes, which promise to provide further insights into the evolution of language. This article is part of the theme issue 'What can animal communication teach us about human language?'
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The syntax-Semantics Interface in animal vocal communication.
Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B Biological sciences, 2019Co-Authors: Toshitaka N. Suzuki, David Wheatcroft, Michael GriesserAbstract:Syntax (rules for combining words or elements) and Semantics (meaning of expressions) are two pivotal features of human language, and interaction between them allows us to generate a limitless numb...
Kjartan Ottosson - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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On a post-syntactic account of the generic Middle Construction Markus Steinbach, Middle Voice: a comparative study in the syntax–Semantics Interface of German (Linguistik Aktuell/Linguistics Today 50). Amsterdam: John Benjamins, 2002. Pp. xii+340.
Journal of Linguistics, 2006Co-Authors: Kjartan Ottosson, Joan MalingAbstract:A perennially challenging topic in generative syntax, the Middle Construction, has been the topic of several recent dissertations, including the book under review. Although not acknowledged as such in the published book, this is a moderately revised version of the Dr. Phil. (Promotion) dissertation, Middles in German: the syntax and Semantics of transitive reflexive sentences , defended at the Humboldt-Universitat in Berlin in 1998. Steinbach's book is clearly the fullest treatment of the Middle Construction in German published in recent times. It presents an original and challenging analysis of this construction and offers a wealth of penetrating observations. As is natural for a review article, however, we will focus more on what we see as the problems and weaknesses of Steinbach's analysis than on the book's virtues.
