Final Project

This class has really been a pleasure. I am extremely grateful that I have been able to experience a bit of linguistics exposure while at Lewis. For my final project I did narrow my research down to specifically Killer Whales. I have a great interest in this amazing animal and really wanted to explore more deeply their unique characteristics. Instead of a blog post as previously thought I decided to use one of my favorite presentation platforms, Prezi. I have created a Prezi presentation on Killer Whale Language. I hope you enjoy. Thank you for a wonderful semester. 

Brittany

PREZI

Final Project Proposal

Project Proposal

Brittany Angelilli 

For my project I look to prove that whales do have a communication style that can be called a language. I think it is important to first look at what defines a language. I plan on looking at what makes a language, communication styles, and dialect. From my research I have found that there are different communication styles between different pods/clans as well as different dialects region to region. Also something interesting I have found in my research is that men communicate in a different manner than women. Whales communicate with each other when is comes to catching prey, teaching their young, mating, etc. I think a blog style format would be best for my project because I’d really like to incorporate visual, audio, and written text into my project. A lot of the research I have been has compared sound waves of humans to those of whales so I think incorporating those graphs would be helpful in proving that whales do have language. I’d also really love to add in some audio or video clips of whales communicating within their pods/clans. I will use my scholarly sources and my own writing to provide further evidence to what the visual and audio clips show.  

Killer Whales- Language 

Annotated Bibliography

Brittany Angelilli  

 

Kaufman, Allison & et al. Using a Self-Organizing Map (SOM) and the Hyperspace Analog

to Language (HAL) Model to Identify Patters of Syntax and Structure in the Songs of Humpback Whales. International Journal of Comparative Psychology, 2012, 25, 237-275.

 

This article presents ideas that I had not previously thought of. Kaufman et al. bring up the idea that the whale’s songs represent their form of language. There is also the idea that we should not only define language in a standard manner. Instead of a complex linguistics systems whales seem to use syntax in order communicate with each other. The research was conducted using two different fully automated models that examined syntax and structure of humpback whale song. The songs were then classified depending on their patterns, which is similar to noun, verb, and direct object in human language. These patterns were identified and specified to geographical areas. These patterns did support the idea that humpback whale songs are unique to specific regions and are likely to be transferred culturally.

 

Author Allison B. Kaufman received her Ph.D. in neuroscience at the University of California at Riverside in 210. Sean Green is a professor in the Psychology department at the University of Buffalo. This article is a peer reviewed journal that can be found in the International Journal of Comparative Psychology.  

 

This research is helpful; it provided a good starting point to my research. After completing this article my interested what sparked even more. I had not before thought of the idea of considering the sound that the whales produce as a song. The graphs and research done for the completion of this article will move my research forward and provide evidence for my final project on the fact that whales do communicate and their communication differs depending on the region.

 

Riesch, Rudiger et al. Whistle sequences in wild killer whales (Orcinus orca).  Journal of the

Acoustical Society of America. Vol. 124, No.3, September 2008.

 

This article looks at stereotypical vocal signals of whales and attempted to determine if specific sequences increased the range of information being transferred. The stupid of language in marine mammals is still extremely new. The study was done in Vancouver Island, British Columbia. There were a total 1140 whistles transitions and 192 whistle sequences recorded for the whales in that specific region. The findings show that the whistles consist of whistle types that were not random. There was also a difference found between male and female whistles; this showed different social behaviors within the groups of whales.

 

Author Rudiger Riesch works for the department of zoology at the University of Oklahoma. This article is published in the Journal of the Acoustical Society of America. The authors do a great job of admitting that some of their research only leads to more questions and do not directly answer the questions they set out to answer. I think if this stupid were to be done again it should be done so in a manner that allows for a great region of whales to be tested.

 

This article in combination with my first will both fit really nicely into my final product. This article shows directly the different manners in which the males communicate with each other. It is extremely interesting to me the social aspect of the whales, the fact that males and females communicate in different manners really helps to prove the fact that these intelligent mammals do have language.  

           

Saulitis, Eva et al. Vocal repertoire and acoustic behavior of the isolated AT1 killer whale

subpopulation in southern Alaska. Canadian Journal of Zoology. NRC Canada. 2005.

 

This article looks at different types of killer whales in the southern parts of Alaska. There are three types of whales presented in this article but one of which is studied at length and that is the AT 1 transient which is a killer whale who eats eat and lives in the Prince William Sound/Kenai Fjords region. Researched identified 14 discrete, pulsed calls in the whales vocal repertoire. These calls were found to be completely different of these whales in the West Coast and Gulf of Alaska. It was found that AT1 transients were silent most of the time and used a foraging strategy of stealth. AT1 transients vocalization was seen to be context specific dissimilar to resident (fish-eaters).  

 

Eva Saulitis, trained in marine biology received her M.S. from the University of Alaska Fairbanks in 1993. Since this time Saulitis has studied killer whales of Prince William Sound, Kenai Fjords, and the Aleutain. She is also co-author of numerous scientific publications. This article is published in the Canadian Journal of Zoology.

 

The graphs and photographs will work as great visual ideas for my presentation. Eva Saulitis seems to have great passion for better understanding and studying killer whales. This article helps present yet another instance in a completely different region of the world then the other articles. This article helps present yet another view point and that is the fact that it is not only different regions of killer whales that communicate in a different manner but those whales who have a different diet communicate in a different manner. 

Project First Step

First Step... 

Do animals have language? 

What 2-3 areas of linguistics will you tie together with this project?

-  Communication styles, dialect, and identity

What do you want to know or explain about these areas? To whom?

- I would like to know if animals do have a style of communication and if so can it be considered a language. Also are there different forms of dialect within specific species of animals. Then lastly do what does the language or lack of language say about the animals identity. I may want to narrow my research down to one animal since these questions are so broad. 

What format does this project need to take in order to reach the target audience(s)?

- I would really love to incorporate some videos into this project, maybe not videos that I have created but ones I enjoy. I can also include sound clips of animals "communicating." I would prefer this project to be more interactive and fun as opposed to a written paper. 

Where will you look for what you need to know?

- I will be looking for scholarly research on the Lewis databases but also exploring more interesting outlets such as Netflix documentaries. I am sure there are also a lot of informational videos on YouTube. 

Langauge

What is language?! 

Language is a way to share thoughts, ideas, and transfer information. Language is difficult, varies from person to person, and culture to culture. There are many forms and types of language. There can be different forms of language within a language. 


*Person, messages, meaning, individuals, communication, emotion, transaction, culture, class, novel utterances. 

Should sign language fill foreign language requirement?

Yes of course. It has all of the characteristics of a language. English sign language is the same as English it is just not spoken but signed. Still able to share thoughts, ideas, and transfer information. 

Field Observation

Field Observation

                Penny did take a little while to warm up to the class but once she did it was easy to see clear overgeneralizations, holophrastic and telegraphic usage, as well as consonant clusters. At the start Penny was demonstrating mainly holophrastic patterns; it seems that maybe this was according because she was nervous. After the third or four group sat with Penny she was leaning more toward telegraphic speech. I noticed that some consonant clusters were present, at one point Penny said “Kitty Kat.” When she said it the K’s were more present than the vowels in the words. Also the first time Penny identified the “Guy” it was difficult to understand, it seemed she was only saying the G. Toward the end of class Penny started to overgeneralize. I can’t blame her after being asked “what’s this” or “what color is this” about a million and one times I would start to just say what I thought the person wanted to hear too. Many times Penny would identify an object or photo as lion and then make the sound of a lion. Penny had a great grasp of understanding novel sentences. When asked if she wanted to try a toy she was extremely responsive and when asked to share she was clear that she was not interested. 

I found a “niche”

          Growing up in the 90’s my mother was addicted to The X-Flies. David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson’s sexual tension and fun banter took over our television set for hours on end. This might explain my slightly unhealthy obsession/crush on David Duchovny. This show being such a large part of my life I see fight to create a word that fills a “niche” in the English language.

Muldering, verb

Mulder, adjective and noun

Special Agent Fox Mulder 

Pronunciation: / Moldɑrŋ/ Moldɑr
Etymology: The X-Flies an American science fiction horror drama television series (20th century). Main character Fox Mulder preforms the act of turning to the fantastic often times in the show causing a development into a verb and adjective.
A.    Verb
1.      When convention and science offers no answers, turning to the fantastic as plausibility.
2014 Brittany Angelilli (College Student) 7 February 14   Student fuels love of X-Flies by creating new word to describe the actions of one of the main characters, Fox Mulder.
B.     Adjective
2.      A term coined to describe and individual who turns to the fantastic as plausibility when convention and science offers no answers.
2014 Linguistics Blog 18 February 14  With the creation of verb Muldering, individuals begin to be referred to as completing the action.  
C.     Noun
1.      Character from the X-Flies, Fox Mulder. The X-Flies aired from 1993-2002 and spanned nine seasons.
1993 20th Century Fox Television 10 September 93  Character Fox Mulder is introduced in season one episode one of X-Flies.