Using Knowledge About Human Vocal Behavior to Understand Acoustic Communication in Animals and the Evolution of Language and Music

Abstract

Humans have an extensive vocal repertoire including language, music, and innate sounds such as laughing, screaming, and crying. When it comes to understanding acoustic communication in other animals, it can be difficult to know to which domain their vocalizations compare. In addition, in humans we have information about both the meaning and fundamental structural units of the sounds we produce. In contrast, in other animals we have neither of these things by default. This makes it very difficult to know where to begin analysis. Often researchers begin by, e.g., recording members of a species in different contexts and looking for vocal differences. While this has led to some important insights, imagine if another species were to do the same thing with human vocalizations: They would likely greatly underestimate the information present in human sounds. Here, we will provide examples showing how approaching animal communication with humans as a model species can potentially answer whether any other species may have abilities that match our own. In addition, we will show how evaluating current hypotheses about the functional and evolutionary origins of human language and music provides insights on the purposes of similar abilities in other species.