?url_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Adc&rft.title=Rethinking+the+language+bottleneck%3A+Why+don't+animals+learn+to+communicate%3F&rft.creator=Oliphant%2C+Michael&rft.subject=Animal+Behavior&rft.subject=Animal+Cognition&rft.subject=Ethology&rft.subject=Evolution&rft.subject=Language&rft.subject=Dynamical+Systems&rft.subject=Neural+Nets&rft.subject=Computational+Linguistics&rft.subject=Learnability&rft.subject=Semantics&rft.subject=Philosophy+of+Language&rft.description=While+most+work+on+the+evolution+of+language+has+been+centered+on+the+evolution+of+syntax%2C+my+focus+in+this+paper+is+instead+on+more+basic+features+that+separate+human+communication+from+the+systems+of+communication+used+by+other+animals.+In+particular%2C+I+argue+that+human+language+is+the+only+existing+system+of+learned+arbitrary+reference.+While+innate+communication+systems+are%2C+by+definition%2C+directly+transmitted+genetically%2C+the+transmission+of+a+learned+learned+systems+must+be+indirect.+Learners+must+acquire+the+system+by+being+exposed+its+the+use+in+the+community.+Although+it+is+reasonable+that+a+learner+has+access+to+the+utterances+that+are+produced%2C+it+is+less+clear+how+accessible+the+meaning+is+that+the+utterance+is+intended+to+convey.+This+particularly+problematic+if+the+system+of+communication+is+symbolic+--+where+form+and+meaning+are+linked+in+a+purely+conventional+way.+Given+this%2C+I+propose+that+the+ability+to+transmit+a+learned+symbolic+system+of+communication+from+one+generation+to+the+next+represents+a+key+milestone+in+the+evolution+of+language.&rft.date=1988-05&rft.type=Preprint&rft.type=NonPeerReviewed&rft.format=application%2Fpostscript&rft.identifier=http%3A%2F%2Fcogprints.org%2F197%2F2%2Flondon.ps&rft.identifier=++Oliphant%2C+Michael++(1988)+Rethinking+the+language+bottleneck%3A+Why+don't+animals+learn+to+communicate%3F++%5BPreprint%5D++++(Unpublished)++&rft.relation=http%3A%2F%2Fcogprints.org%2F197%2F