THE PUTTY-NOSED MONKEY 'PYOW-HACK' SEQUENCE: COMPOSITIONAL OR AN IDIOMATIC EXPRESSION?

摘要

1．Introduction Syntax is widely considered the feature that most decisively sets human language apart from other natural communication systems. Animal vocalisations are generally considered to be holistic with few examples of utterances meaning something other than the sum of their parts. Previously, we have shown that male putty-nosed monkeys produce call series consisting of two call types in response to different events. They can also be combined into short sequences that convey a different message from those conveyed by either call type alone. We investigated whether or not 'pyow-hack' sequences might be compositional in that the individual calls contribute to their overall meaning.