And the difference in wages between male and female cops
In the Netherlands, sociolinguist Leonie Cornips and her team are looking at the way that dairy cows communicate with one another, and whether it can be classified as a language. According to Cornips, the term "language" should have a much broader definition than it is usually given. Indeed, the way that both humans and animals communicate has a lot more to it than what comes out of the mouth.
Curious? Check out this gallery to find out more.
In the field of linguistics, the general consensus is that our use of language as humans is what differentiates us from animals.
There is a small minority of linguists, however, who do not accept this notion, and who believe that the ways many animals communicate could also be classed as language.
As early as the 1960s, linguists were working with chimpanzees and humpback whales in an effort to show that humans may not be as linguistically advanced as we like to believe.
At present, a group of Dutch linguists continue this research, but this time the subjects of their attention are dairy cows.
Based at the Meertens Institute in Amsterdam, sociolinguist Leonie Cornips and her team are studying the frequency, duration, and intensity of sounds made by cows.
Cornips is firm in her belief that language not only includes what comes out of the mouth, but rather what relates to the whole body.
The team is therefore studying other ways that meaning is expressed between cows, and not limiting themselves to just the sounds they produce.
The research is currently ongoing, but already the team has made some interesting observations.
For example, it has become apparent over time that cows have an elaborate greeting ritual that is not immediately obvious to non-bovines.
This became obvious to Cornips and her team when they observed one particular cow who had been brought from a managed indoor facility to join five other cows in an outdoor pasture.
To begin with, the newbie would back away when the researchers approached. They would walk straight up to the cow and try to touch her immediately.
Over time, they realized that cows value their personal space in the same way as humans, and that they would need to respect that.
Cornips began to approach with her arms by her side, and learned to engage in a ritual whereby she and the cow took turns to look at each other, and then looked away.
Cornips believes that her new friend was teaching her how to communicate, and that she needed to learn the proper etiquette.
Another observation that the team has made about the ways cows communicate is that there is a lot of patience involved.
For example, when a mother cow calls her calf, it can take up to 60 seconds for the calf to respond audibly.
During those 60 seconds, mother and calf engage in a laundry list of bodily gestures, such as ear wiggling.
Indeed, studies conducted on Austrian cows suggest that ear positioning and neck stretching are very important facets of cows’ language.
The first move in an exchange between cows is likely to be a movement of the ears, shortly followed by a look.
Cornips has also observed that cows lean on their surroundings much more than humans when it comes to communicating between themselves.
For example, in one of the herds she studied, individual cows would bang on the fence to communicate with the rest of the herd at feeding time.
According to Cornips and her broad understanding of what is encompassed by the term "language," these gestures can be viewed as a type of language.
According to Cornips, different physical environments allow for different opportunities for linguistic expression.
She even thinks that cows may be capable of developing diverse language practices that could be thought of as dialects.
If we accept that cows do indeed communicate via their own language, it is tempting to compare their abilities with those of other species.
Humpback whales, for example, are known to develop different dialects in different regions, and they are able to communicate over enormous distances.
However, such comparisons may not be particularly useful, because cows and whales have very different physical attributes.
For example, whales cannot move their ears as much as cows, so they cannot be expected to pack as much meaning into an ear wiggle.
Sources: (BBC)
See also: Fascinating ways animals communicate
Understanding how cows communicate through sounds and behavior
Do cows really have their own language?
LIFESTYLE Communication
In the Netherlands, sociolinguist Leonie Cornips and her team are looking at the way that dairy cows communicate with one another, and whether it can be classified as a language. According to Cornips, the term "language" should have a much broader definition than it is usually given. Indeed, the way that both humans and animals communicate has a lot more to it than what comes out of the mouth.
Curious? Check out this gallery to find out more.