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Article published In: Interaction Studies
Vol. 18:1 (2017) ► pp.1–25

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Combinatory rules and chunk structure in male Mueller’s gibbon songs

 |  |  | The School of Arts and Sciences, The University of Tokyo | Laboratory for Biolinguistics, RIKEN Brain Science Institute |
 |  | Research and Development Division Yayasan Sabah Group |
 |  |
 |  |  |  | Cognition and Behavior Joint Research Laboratory, RIKEN Brain Science Institute | Department of Life Sciences, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, The University of Tokyo |
Published online: 10 August 2017
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https://doi.org/10.1075/is.18.1.01ino
Understanding whether the long and elaborate songs of male gibbons (Hylobates muelleri) have syntax and hierarchical structures (chunks) is an interesting question in the evolution of language, because gibbons are near humans in the phylogenetic tree and a hierarchically organized syntax is considered to be a basic component of human language. We conducted field research at Danum Valley Conservation Area in northern Borneo to test the hypothesis that gibbon songs have syntax and chunks. We followed one Mueller’s gibbon group for 1 week in the dry and rainy seasons every year from 2001 to 2009, collecting vocal and behavioral data. Results show that songs emitted by the studied male gibbon were governed by combinatory rules. Some context-dependent songs had different combinatory rules, although they overlapped with the songs whose contexts were uncertain. The male Mueller’s songs had characteristics that suggest existence of chunk structure. These results provided an important perspective in the study of language origin.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Methods
    • 2.1Study areas and animals
    • 2.2Behavioral data collection
    • 2.3Recording protocol
    • 2.4Data analysis
    • 2.5Acoustic terms and definitions
    • 2.6Analyses of song syntax
    • 2.7Syntactical difference among songs
    • 2.8Analyses of chunk existence
  • 3.Results
    • 3.1Analyses of song syntax
    • 3.2Syntactic difference among songs
    • 3.3Analyses of chunk existence
  • 4.Discussion
  • Acknowledgments
  • References
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Figure 2. Portion of the sonogram when the study male sang FS (family song) with his 5.5-year-old son alternately. Solid line: study male song

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