Linguistics 333: Human language and animal communication systems
UNC-Chapel Hill Linguistics
Spring 2023
Elliott Moreton
2023 May 5 (F): FINAL EXAM, 4 p.m.
2023 April 28 (F)
Project presentations
2023 April 26 (W)
Topics: Wrap-up and robin clinic.
Class:
- Course summary (handout, Sakai Resources)
- Robin projects
- Testing hypotheses (handout, Sakai).
- Presentation (handout, Sakai)
- Final report (handout, Sakai)
Assignments:
- Robin presentations April 28 (F)
- Final written report due May 5 M
- Final exam May 5 M
2023 April 24 (M)
Topics: Innately constrained learning in humans
Class:
Assignments:
- Forge ahead on robins. All robin-project handouts are now on Sakai,
in Resources > Robin project > Handouts.
- If you haven't succeeded in recording a bird, now is the time to give up
and ask for one from the archives.
2023 April 21 (F)
Topics: Do vervet monkeys have a lexicon?
Class:
- Robin check-in
- The human lexicon: Lots of learning required
- How much learning is involved in vervet alarm calls? (Seyfarth & Cheney; slides on Sakai)
Assignments:
- Berent et al. 2008 reactions due Monday the 24th at noon.
- Forge ahead on robins. All robin-project handouts are now on Sakai,
in Resources > Robin project > Handouts.
2023 April 19 (W)
Topics: Vocal production learning in non-human primates
Class:
- Robin check-in
- Discussion of Fischer & Hammerschmidt 2020 reading on plasticity (or not) of
non-human primate vocalizations.
- ICP: Genes and social behavior as predictors of call structure
in Campbell's monkeys (handout, based on Lemasson et al. 2011)
Assignment for 4/24 M: Read Berent et al. 2008, with
reading guide (on Sakai). Once again, please write short
answers to the reading-guide questions and post to the Forums
area. (Will count as final 1/3 of a homework. This is the last
non-robin assignment for this class.)
2023 April 17 (M)
Topics: Critical (sensitive) periods in birdsong and language
acquisition.
Class:
- Sensitive periods (aka critical periods) in acquisition of birdsong and language
(slides on Sakai)
- HO: Testing hypotheses about robin song
- Windows users can get Perl free here.
- The Sakai folder, Resources > Robin Project (scroll to bottom of
Resources) now has subfolders for Handouts, Software, and Recordings.
Assignment for 4/19 W:
- Read Fischer & Hammerschmidt (2020, on Sakai), Sections
1, 2, and 5, about vocal learning (or not) in non-human
primates
- Forge ahead on robin project. Let me know if and when
you would like to meet about your hypotheses.
- Keep track of who is doing how much work, and make sure
it is divided fairly. (Remember, the assignment must be
handed in with a statement of who did what.)
2023 April 14 (F)
Topics:The auditory-template model of birdsong acquisition.
Class:
- Robin check-in
- The auditory-template model, discussed with reading reactions and slides (Sakai)
2023 April 12 (W)
Topics: Developmental stages of birdsong. Closed- vs. open-ended learners.
Class:
- "Closed-ended" vs. "open-ended" learners (Hultsch & Todt 2004)
- Stages of vocal production in a closed-ended learner
- Subsong
- Plastic song
- Crystallized song
- Examples:
- Zebra Finch (Nottebohm 1999;
audio)
- Northern Cardinal (Suthers 2004; audio on Sakai)
- Robin project HO #3: Segmentation
Assignment for 4/14 F: Please write up brief answers to the questions at
the end of today's slides as preparation for Friday's discussion of the auditory-template
model.
2023 April 10 (M)
Topics: Natural evidence for learning: Song dialects.
Class:
- Robin check-in
- Song dialects (slides, Sakai). Examples from
Assignment for 4/12 W:
- Read Catchpole & Slater 2008, Ch 3, pp. 49--60, on
birdsong learning (this is less than all of Ch. 3)
- Robins!
2023 April 5 (W)
Topics: Context for the acquisition unit. Innate songs.
Class:
- Tyrant flycatchers (Kroodsma 2005:79-89). Discussion based on reading reactions.
- Gibbons (Geissmann lab)
- Gibbon song handout (on Sakai)
- Watch videos
here
(T. Geissmann lab). For example, here is
a siamang duet
- Song of inter-species hybrids
Assignment for 4/10 M: Record one robin per partnership!
2023 April 3 (M)
Topics: Context for the acquisition unit.
Class:
- Go over MT 2.
- Vocal learning in non-humans: Why should linguists
care? (Slides, Sakai)
Assignments
- For 4/5 (W):
- Read Kroodsma 2005:79-89 on tyrant flycatchers;
listen to Tracks 20-23 from the Kroodsma CD.
- Ponder questions on last of today's slides; write up brief
answers for class discussion. Will count as 1/3 of a HW. To
be done as a partnership.
- For 4/10 M: Record one robin per partnership!
2023 March 31 (F)
Topics: Robin project. Making field recordings.
Class:
- MT 2.
- HO: Robin project overview
- Robin check-in: Recording
- HO: Recording robins
Assignment
- for 4/3 M (optional): Choose one question from MT 2;
figure out a better answer; write it up and hand it in
along with the midterm. (To be done individually.)
- for 4/10 M: Record one robin per partnership.
2023 March 29 (W)
MIDTERM 2: Combinatorial structure
Assignment for 3/31 (F): Use some
"device" that you have access to to record some sound outdoors
-- if possible, a bird. Here are some pointers to
pre-installed or freeware recording apps.:
This is not for a grade, but just to make sure you can do it.
If you don't have a device that's easily portable, the Linguistics
Department has a couple to lend out.
2023 March 27 (M)
Topics: Combinatorial syntax with compositional semantics
in nonhumans?
Class:
- Discussion of Robinson (1984) on Cebus olivaceus,
following reading guide. Main points:
- Hockett (1960) design features, and Robinson's use of them
- Strategy for determining "meaning"
- "Meanings" of individual calls
- Syntactic rules for combining calls
- Semantic rules for combining call "meanings"
- Is it compositional? If so, is the compositional meaning
dependent on the syntax?
Assignment:
- For 3/29 W (pending): Prepare for Midterm 2 on combinatorial
structure.
2023 March 24 (F)
Topics: Combinatorial syntax and compositional semantics.
Class:
- Simple examples of combinatorial syntax supporting
compositional semantics in human language (slides, Sakai).
- Where have we seen...
- Combinatorial syntax in non-humans?
- Compositional "semantics" in non-humans?
- Combinatorial syntax supporting compositional semantics in
non-humans?
- Does the
bee dance
show compositional semantics? How is "phonetic" similarity
related to "semantic" similarity?
Assignment:
- For 3/27 M (pending): Read Robinson 1984 with reading
guide on Sakai
- For 3/29 W (pending): Prepare for Midterm 2 on combinatorial
structure.
2023 March 22 (W)
Topics: Inadequacy of finite-state machines for human syntax.
Context-free phrase structure grammars and context-free languages.
Class:
- Discuss Chomsky 1957 reading
- Apply Pumping Lemma for regular languages on Chomsky's examples
in (10).
- English analogues of (10): "The House that Noam Built" (Reich, 1977)
- Syntactic constituency as evidence against finite-state models of syntax.
Assignment
- for 3/27 M: Read Robinson (1984) on Cebus olivaceus,
with reading guide (Sakai).
- for 3/29 W: Prepare for Midterm 2 on combinatorial
structure. A midterm syllabus is on Sakai (Resources).
2023 March 20 (M)
Topics: Combinatorial complexity: The limits
of finite-state machines.
Class:
- Discuss HW 6, finite-state aspects of human phonology
- Prove that something is regular by exhibiting the machine.
- How to prove that something isn't regular?
- A general way of proving that a "language" can't be recognized
by a finite-state machine: the Pumping Lemma (slides, Sakai)
Assignment for Wednesday, March 22: Read Chomsky 1957, Ch. 3,
with reading guide (on Sakai). Think about why the examples in (10) on
p. 21 are not recognizable by finite-state machines.
Announcement: Midterm 2 will be on 3/29 W.
2023 March 10 (F)
Topics: Combinatorial structure of primate vocalizations, as
exemplified by the titi monkey Callicebus moloch/Plecturocebus moloch (Robinson 1979).
Class:
- Slides: Levels of structure in titi-monkey vocalizations.
- What (if anything) have humans got that these monkeys don't?
- What are they communicating? How could we tell?
Assignment:
- For 3/20 M (pending): Do HW 6 on some finite-state
properties of human language.
2023 March 8 (W)
Topics: First-order Markov processes.
Class:
- Transition matrices and first-order Markov processes (slides, Sakai)
- Often, what's interesting is when it's not Markovian
- Example: Hermit Thrush song bout (Kroodsma 2005:255-267)
- Example: Black-Capped Chickadee calls (Hailman et al. 1987)
Assignment:
- For 3/10 F (pending): Read Robinson (1979) on Callicebus
moloch with reading guide (both on Sakai Resources).
- For 3/20 M: Do HW 6 on some finite-state properties of human language.
2023 March 6 (M)
Topics: Finite-state modelling of vocalization structure.
Class:
- Discussion of HW 5: Black-Chinned Hummingbird and Flammulated Attila
- Preparation for Robinson (1979) on Callicebus moloch
Assignment:
- For 3/8 W (pending): Read Kroodsma 2005:255-267 (song syntax in
the Hermit Thrush), and listen to the accompanying sound
file. Note use of words "senior honors
thesis".
- For 3/10 F: Read Robinson (1979) on Callicebus
moloch with reading guide (both on Sakai Resources).
2023 March 3 (F)
Topics: Report from the field: Emma
Reinhardt (UNC-CH Biology) on combinatorial structure in
Lincoln's sparrows.
Assignment:
- For 3/6 M (pending): HW 5 (FSMs for Black-Capped Hummingbird,
Flammulated Attila)
- For 3/8 W (pending): Read Kroodsma 2005:255-267 (song syntax in
the Hermit Thrush), and listen to the accompanying sound
file. Note use of words "senior honors
thesis".
2023 March 1 (W)
Topics: Finite-state syntax in birdsong. In-class problems
using JFLAP.
Class:
- Introduction to finite-state machines (slides, Sakai Resources)
- Implementing finite-state machines using
JFLAP
- In-class examples: What do these machines do?
- Exercise: Constructing a finite-state recognizer for the
simulated
Black-Capped Chickadee corpus (based on Hailman et al.
1987). Hear an example
here (Xeno-Canto).
Assignment:
- For 3/6 M: HW 5 (FSMs for Black-Capped Hummingbird,
Flammulated Attila)
- For 3/8 W: Read Kroodsma 2005:255-267 (song syntax in
the Hermit Thrush), and listen to the accompanying sound
file. Note use of words "senior honors
thesis".
2023 Feb. 27 (M)
Topics: Finite-state syntax in birdsong. Discussion of
Honda & Okanoya 1999 reading. In-class problems using Praat.
Class:
- Combinatorial structure: Example from last time of
Song Sparrow songs. Recurring pieces, with other pieces
inside them.
- Need a way to build models of that structure --- grammars
distinguishing well-formed from ill-formed song types.
- Honda & Okanoya 1999: Using finite-state machines to
model Bengalese Finch song grammar.
- In-class demo:
- From raw audio data to segmented and labelled song
using Praat Text Grid.
- From transcription to transition diagram.
2023 Feb. 24 (F)
Topics: Structure in vocalizations.
Class:
- What is structure?
- Example: Humans. HO: "Language in a nutshell" (Sakai, last time)
- Example: Birdsong cases from the Catchpole & Slater 2008 reading.
- ICP: The song repertoire of a
Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodia)
(Kroodsma 2005:59-60, Track 17). (Uses Google Doc linked from
the Resources page.)
- Hockett (1960)'s "design features" in human language and Song Sparrow
song: Discreteness.
Assignment for 2/27 M:
- Read Honda & Okanoya 1999, and listen to the accompanying sound
files (courtesy of K. Okanoya). (On Sakai, with reading guide.)
- Install the
JFLAP
state-machine simulator, and check that you can run it. Mac users
may need to install an older version, like 6.4.
2023 Feb. 22 (W)
Topics: Comparative-phonetics midterm.
Hockett's "design features"
Class:
- Go over MT 1
- Discussion of Hockett 1960, with reading guide (Sakai).
Here's more information about the
Western Meadowlark (Birds of the World)
- "Song types", illustrated with Eastern Towhee (Kroodsma 2005, Track 49)
Assignment for 2/24 F: Read Catchpole & Slater 2008, Ch. 8,
through end of Section 3 on p. 215 (Sakai).
2023 Feb. 20 (M)
MIDTERM 1: Primate and avian phonetics
Assignment: for 2/22 W: Read Hockett 1960, with reading guide
(both on Sakai Resources)
2023 Feb. 17 (F)
Topics: Songbird phonetics: Syringeal source
and suprasyringeal filter.
Class:
- Uni- and bilateral phonation (Suthers 1999):
unilateral, sequential, alternating, independent.
(Slides from last time.)
- Filter: Suprasyringeal vocal tract (new slides)
- Trachea (Daley & Goller 2004)
- Larynx (Bock 1978)
- Mouth, tongue, and beak (Hoese et al. 2000; Nelson et al. 2005,
Riede et al. 2006, Suthers et al. 2016)
Assignment: Review for MT 1 on Monday, 2/20.
2023 Feb. 15 (W)
Topics: Phonetic potential of nonhuman primate vocal tracts.
Class:
- Discussion of HW 4
- Human language and non-human primate vocal tracts
- What consonants could the chimpanzee vocal tract
potentially support?
- Putting that together with what we've read about
possible vowels, tones, and phonation types, what
can we say about the potential phonetic inventory?
- How much is needed for human-like language?
- Bilateral phonation in the song of the American Robin
- Oscine lungs and syrix (slides, Sakai)
- Flow of air through air sacs and lungs in birds
(animation
here (G. Ritchison))
- Oscine syrinx. Images
here (G. Ritichison).
2023 Feb. 10 (F)
Topics: Comparative primate vocal anatomy and
function: III. Vocal tracts and phonetic potential of living
non-human primates.
Class:
Assignment:
- For 2/15 M: HW 4, the "humanzee" and robins
- For 2/15 M and 2/17 F: Read Suthers 1999 on bird vocal
anatomy, with reading guide (Sakai Resources)
- For 2/20 M: Review for Midterm 1
2023 Feb. 8 (W)
Topics: Comparative primate vocal anatomy and
function: II. Reconstructed vowel space of Neanderthals.
Class:
- Discuss Lieberman 2007 on reconstruction of Neanderthal
vocal-tract anatomy and vowel space, with reading-guide handout
and appendix (both on Sakai Resources)
- Neanderthals, their anatomical and behavioral differences
from modern humans
- Vowel space of modern non-human primates (Owren 1997)
- Low larynx as costly adaptation for speech
- Lieberman's arguments about the shape of the Neanderthal
supralaryngeal vocal tract
- Lieberman's inferences about the associated vowel space
- Implications for language capacity
- Critique
Assignment:
- For 2/10 F: Read Fitch et al. 2016 on the potential non-human primate vowel space,
with reading guide (Sakai Resources)
- For 2/15 W: HW 4, the "humanzee" and robins
- For 2/15 W and 2/17 F: Read Suthers 1999 on bird vocal anatomy,
with reading guide (Sakai Resources)
2023 Feb. 6 (M)
Topics: Comparative primate vocal anatomy
and function: I. The larynx.
Class:
- Meet the kinfolks: the primate family tree (slides, Sakai Resources)
- Phonetic potential of NHP larnyngeal source (slides on Sakai)
- Human use of f0 and voice quality in
Mpi
(Ladefoged)
Assignment For 2/8 W: Finish reading
Lieberman 2007, with reading guide (both on Sakai)
2023 Feb. 3 (F)
Topics: Perturbation theory and the human vowel space.
Class:
- HW 3 (sheep/lamb)
- Main points:
- Source/filter independence
- Relationship between size on the one hand,
f0 and formants on the other
- Relation between vowel articulation, F1, and F2
- Sheep/lamb measurements (not all possible!)
- Vocal-tract length calculations
- Human vowel space
- Begin reading guide for Lieberman 2007 paper.
Assignment for 2/8 W: Read Lieberman (2007) with
reading guide (both on Sakai Resources).
2023 Feb. 1 (W)
Topics: Non-schwa vowels: Perturbation theory.
Class:
- Perturbation theory for F2 ("Nodes and antinodes" slides, continued)
- Vowel articulations (Ladefoged 2011 Ch. 12 reading;
some
low-tech ways to observe them)
- Demo of
articulation affecting acoustics
- "Perturbation theory applied" (slides, Sakai)
Assignment for Feb. 3 (F):
- Reread Ladefoged & Disner 2012, Ch. 12 (Sakai
Resources), and compare their acoustical vowel measurements
with what you're finding as you do HW 3.
- Finish HW 3 (sheep/lamb).
2023 Jan. 30 (M)
Topics:Nodes and antinodes of schwa. Beyond schwa:
perturbation theory.
Class:
- Nodes and antinodes in the uniform tube (slides, Sakai)
- Acoustic demonstration (in class)
- Simulation,
showing what the molecules are doing (Walter Fendt)
- Preview of perturbation theory
- Rounding
Assignment:
- For 2/1 W: Read Ladefoged & Disner 2012, Ch. 12 (Sakai Resources)
- For 2/3 F: HW 3 (sheep/lamb), with partner!
Assignment and audio files are on Sakai in the "Assignments"
area.
2023 January 27 (F)
Topics: Audio recording and measurement.
Class:
- In-class problem: Estimating vocal-tract length from
the formants of schwa-like vocalizations
- Source-filter review: Which are changing, harmonics or formants, in
Sound A? Sound B?
- Partner assignments. Please find your partner and
exchange contact information today!
- Issue microphones
- HO: How to record with Praat (Sakai)
-
Assignment:
- For 1/30 M: Read Johnson 2012, Ch. 6, Section 2 only (Sakai)
- For 2/3 F: HW 3 (sheep/lamb), with partner!
Assignment and audio files are on Sakai in the "Assignments"
area.
2023 Jan. 25 (W)
Topics: Varying laryngeal position in elk (Fitch & Reby 2001)
Class:
- Discussion of Fitch & Reby (2001), with reading guide
- In-class problem: Estimating vocal-tract length from
the formants of schwa-like vocalizations
- Source-filter review: Which are changing, harmonics or formants, in
Sound A? Sound B?
Assignment for 1/27 F:
- Read Johnson 2012, Ch. 6, Section 2 only (Sakai)
- Bring a laptop to practice recording
2023 Jan. 23 (M)
Topics: Position of the larynx in humans and other mammals.
Class:
- Discussion of the Fitch (2000) paper
- HO: Fitch 2000 reading guide (Sakai, from last time)
- HO: Laryngeal position (Sakai, new this time)
-
X-ray movie of human vocalization.
-
X-ray movie of human swallowing. Another one can be
found on this page.
- X-ray movie of a dog drinking.
- Time permitting: Preview of Fitch & Reby 2001. Re-see last time's handout for
relationship between vocal-tract length and schwa formants
(HO: "Resonances of a half-open tube", from 1/20).
Assignment for 1/25 W:
- Read Fitch & Reby 2001 article (Sakai) with reading guide (Sakai).
- See and hear a red-deer/elk roar
here
- An audio file is
here.
To view it in Praat,
try the following spectrogram settings: View Range 0 to 2000 Hz,
Window Length 0.05s.
2023 Jan. 20 (F)
Topics: Resonances of a half-open tube; formants of schwa.
Class:
- Reprise:
- Source/filter model of mammalian vocalization
- Effect of tubular filter on source (glottal) spectrum
- Why does schwa have formants where it does? (HO and slides, Sakai)
- Echoes in the half-open tube
(audio)
- Destructive and constructive interference
- Resonant frequencies: F1, F2, F3, ... (formants)
- How are the formant frequencies related to the length of the tube?
- Preview of Fitch 2000
Announcement: Office hours are still 11-1 on Wednesdays.
Assignment for 1/23 M: Read
- Fitch, W. Tecumseh.
2000. The phonetic potential of nonhuman vocal tracts: comparative
cineradiographic observations of vocalizing animals.
Phonetica 57(2-4):205-218 (Sakai)...
- ... using the Reading Guide (also Sakai, same folder)
- Listen to example vocalizations of
pigs,
goats,
dogs
(there's no video till 2:26), and
cotton-top tamarins
2023 Jan. 18 (W)
Topics: Source/filter theory. Empirical filtering properties
of half-open tube.
Class:
- Source/filter reprise
- Demonstration of acoustic filtering by half-open tube.
Low-tech source-filter synthesis:
Buzzing lips, then buzzing lips into 17.7-cm tube.
- Spectrum of schwa:
- Synthetic glottal waveform,
F0 = 100 Hz
(similar to Johnson 2012, Figures 2.1 and 2.2)
- How that
actually comes out when played through cheap headphones
- Schwa made
by attaching headphone to 17.5-cm cardboard cylinder
- Demo: Resonances of a half-open cylinder (see slides on Sakai)
Assignment for 1/20 F: Read Johnson 2012, Ch. 2, Sections 1, 3,
and 4.
This simulation may help (W. Fendt).
2023 Jan. 13 (F)
Topics: The source-filter model of mammalian vocal production.
The larynx and phonation. f0. The glottal wave.
Class:
- Go over HW 2 (Praat/gibbon).
- Slides (on Sakai): Source-filter model.
- Demonstration of acoustic filtering by a half-open tube.
- Source: The larynx (vocal-fold vibration)
- Anatomy
- Acoustics of the unfiltered glottal wave
- Partnership questionnaire (5 minutes)
2023 Jan. 11 (W)
Topics: Using Praat. The waveform display. Measuring
duration and fundamental frequency. Fourier analysis and the
spectrogram display.
Before class: The assignment from last time involved
downloading
this audio file.
Make sure you have it, and open it up in Praat.
Class:
- Using the Edit function to listen and look (helpful handout
from Jen Smith is
here).
- The waveform display. The time cursor. Zooming. Selecting an
interval.
- Configuring the waveform display with View: Show analyses... to
turn off extraneous information.
- Configuring the spectrogram display with
Spectrum:Spectrogram settings...
- Frequency display range: 0 to 10000 Hz
- Analysis window: 0.05 s
- Simple periodic
- Complex periodic
- = sum of simple periodic (Fourier).
- Example: how to make a
square wave out of sine waves. (Do it yourself with
this applet).
- Fundamental frequency and harmonics.
- Real-life example: Carolina chickadee
call.
- Spectral slice, aka "power spectrum".
Assignment for 1/13 F:
- Do HW 2. The sound file is
here
(Geissmann gibbon-lab site)
- Read Denes & Pinson 1993, Chapter 4, pp. 47-64 (overview of
human vocal-tract anatomy and phonation) (Sakai Resources)
2023 Jan. 9 (M)
Topics: Course organization. Praat. Intro to sound.
Class:
- Go over syllabus (Sakai).
- Read script on
preparedness in the classroom.
- Information on
Installing
Praat, and more Praat resources (Jen Smith).
The Praat website is here.
- How to download sound files and open them in Praat (HO, Sakai).
Example:
- Go to this page
(xenocanto.org)
- Right-click on the page where it says ``Download audio file''.
- Save the file to disk.
- Open it in Praat.
- More
Praat resources (Jen Smith).
-
Sound waves.
- How
microphones work.
- Reading the Praat waveform display.
Assignment for 1/11 (W):
- Read Johnson 2012, Chapter 1, pp. 7--19 (Sakai), an
overview of sound. (Page numbers refer to the book, not
the pdf file.)
- HW 1, "Technology" (Sakai, Assignments), due 1/11 at 12 noon
- Bring a laptop computer to class that day
