On Fri, 23 Feb 1996, Phil Veldhuis wrote:
 
> Philosophers, such as myself, wonder what differentiates bee language
> from human language.  And whether bee language, and indeed human
> language, genuinely constitutes language at all.
>
> Human language is generally thought to have these important features:
> 1.  Generative nature:.....
> 2.  Grammar:.....
> 3.  Information carrying:.....
>
> Anyone who thinks that these three things are all there is to language,
> and who thinks the DL hypothesis is true, probably thinks that bees have
> a language.  Of course, many researchers think that human language is
> much more complicated, and so they might think that bees don't have
> language.
 
However, 'body language' is typically much more restricted
than that, but still gives clear messages to the recipients
(of whatever species) and often involves 'conversations',
usually revolving around who is in charge here. Many animal
trainers learn the body languages of the animals they train and
can communicate certain things startlingly well. It is easy
for me to accept that body language is a real language. It
is easy for me to accept that the 'dance language' is a
development of body language.
 
Regards,
--
Gordon Scott   [log in to unmask]      [log in to unmask] (work)
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