Brevity is not a universal in animal communication: evidence for compression depends on the unit of analysis in small ape vocalizations
Evidence for compression, or minimization of code length, has been found across biological systems from genomes to human language and music. Two linguistic laws—Menzerath's Law (which states that longer sequences consist of shorter constituents) and Zipf's Law of abbreviation (a negative r...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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The Royal Society
2020-04-01
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| Series: | Royal Society Open Science |
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| Online Access: | https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/pdf/10.1098/rsos.200151 |
| _version_ | 1818505432570789888 |
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| author | Dena J. Clink Abdul Hamid Ahmad Holger Klinck |
| author_facet | Dena J. Clink Abdul Hamid Ahmad Holger Klinck |
| author_sort | Dena J. Clink |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Evidence for compression, or minimization of code length, has been found across biological systems from genomes to human language and music. Two linguistic laws—Menzerath's Law (which states that longer sequences consist of shorter constituents) and Zipf's Law of abbreviation (a negative relationship between signal length and frequency of use)—are predictions of compression. It has been proposed that compression is a universal in animal communication, but there have been mixed results, particularly in reference to Zipf's Law of abbreviation. Like songbirds, male gibbons (Hylobates muelleri) engage in long solo bouts with unique combinations of notes which combine into phrases. We found strong support for Menzerath's Law as the longer a phrase, the shorter the notes. To identify phrase types, we used state-of-the-art affinity propagation clustering, and were able to predict phrase types using support vector machines with a mean accuracy of 74%. Based on unsupervised phrase type classification, we did not find support for Zipf's Law of abbreviation. Our results indicate that adherence to linguistic laws in male gibbon solos depends on the unit of analysis. We conclude that principles of compression are applicable outside of human language, but may act differently across levels of organization in biological systems. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-10T21:50:42Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-38f5be982e434741b8d8ef5e765b98fe |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2054-5703 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-10T21:50:42Z |
| publishDate | 2020-04-01 |
| publisher | The Royal Society |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Royal Society Open Science |
| spelling | doaj.art-38f5be982e434741b8d8ef5e765b98fe2022-12-22T01:32:13ZengThe Royal SocietyRoyal Society Open Science2054-57032020-04-017410.1098/rsos.200151200151Brevity is not a universal in animal communication: evidence for compression depends on the unit of analysis in small ape vocalizationsDena J. ClinkAbdul Hamid AhmadHolger KlinckEvidence for compression, or minimization of code length, has been found across biological systems from genomes to human language and music. Two linguistic laws—Menzerath's Law (which states that longer sequences consist of shorter constituents) and Zipf's Law of abbreviation (a negative relationship between signal length and frequency of use)—are predictions of compression. It has been proposed that compression is a universal in animal communication, but there have been mixed results, particularly in reference to Zipf's Law of abbreviation. Like songbirds, male gibbons (Hylobates muelleri) engage in long solo bouts with unique combinations of notes which combine into phrases. We found strong support for Menzerath's Law as the longer a phrase, the shorter the notes. To identify phrase types, we used state-of-the-art affinity propagation clustering, and were able to predict phrase types using support vector machines with a mean accuracy of 74%. Based on unsupervised phrase type classification, we did not find support for Zipf's Law of abbreviation. Our results indicate that adherence to linguistic laws in male gibbon solos depends on the unit of analysis. We conclude that principles of compression are applicable outside of human language, but may act differently across levels of organization in biological systems.https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/pdf/10.1098/rsos.200151compressionmenzerath's lawzipf's law of abbreviationunsupervised clusteringhylobates |
| spellingShingle | Dena J. Clink Abdul Hamid Ahmad Holger Klinck Brevity is not a universal in animal communication: evidence for compression depends on the unit of analysis in small ape vocalizations Royal Society Open Science compression menzerath's law zipf's law of abbreviation unsupervised clustering hylobates |
| title | Brevity is not a universal in animal communication: evidence for compression depends on the unit of analysis in small ape vocalizations |
| title_full | Brevity is not a universal in animal communication: evidence for compression depends on the unit of analysis in small ape vocalizations |
| title_fullStr | Brevity is not a universal in animal communication: evidence for compression depends on the unit of analysis in small ape vocalizations |
| title_full_unstemmed | Brevity is not a universal in animal communication: evidence for compression depends on the unit of analysis in small ape vocalizations |
| title_short | Brevity is not a universal in animal communication: evidence for compression depends on the unit of analysis in small ape vocalizations |
| title_sort | brevity is not a universal in animal communication evidence for compression depends on the unit of analysis in small ape vocalizations |
| topic | compression menzerath's law zipf's law of abbreviation unsupervised clustering hylobates |
| url | https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/pdf/10.1098/rsos.200151 |
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