The Speech of MonkeysGarner, R. L. (Richard Lynch)
Science
The Speech of Monkeys
Garner, R. L. (Richard Lynch)
Monkeys; Sound production by animals; Speech
I do not think that their language is capable of shaping sentences into
narrative or giving any detail in a complaint, for I have never seen
anything yet among them which would justify one in ascribing to them so
high a type of speech; but in terms of general grievance it may have
conveyed to Puck the idea of a monkey in distress, and hence his desire
to avoid it; while the image in the glass presented to him a picture of
his own mood, and he therefore had no cause to shun it. I do think,
however, that the present form of speech used by monkeys is developed
far above a mere series of grunts and groans, and that some species
among them have a much more copious and expressive form of speech than
others. From many experiments with the phonograph, I am prepared to say
with certainty that some have much higher phonetic types than others. I
have traced some slight inflections which I think beyond a doubt modify
the values of their sounds. I find that some monkeys do not make some of
these inflections at all, although the phonation of a species is
generally uniform in other respects. In some cases it seems to me that
the inflections differ slightly in the same species, but long and
constant association seems to unify these dialects in some degree, very
much the same as like causes blend and unify the dialects of human
speech. I have found one instance in which a Capuchin had acquired two
sounds which strictly belonged to the tongue of the white-faced Cebus. I
was surprised when I heard him utter the sounds, and thought at first
that they were common to the speech of both varieties; but on inquiry I
found that he had been confined in a cage with the white-face for nearly
four years, and hence my belief that he acquired them during that time.
The most remarkable case which has come under my observation is one in
which a young white-face has acquired the sound which means food in the
Capuchin tongue. This event occurred under my own eyes. I regard this
matter as so noteworthy and attended by such conditions as to show that
the monkey had a motive in learning the sound, that I shall relate the
case in detail.
[Sidenote: THE WHITE-FACED CEBUS]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account