African penguins (Spheniscus demersus) bear the unfortunate nickname “jackass penguins” because they communicate through honking, donkey-like sounds. Laugh at them if you like, but a new study suggests that their jackass language act actually follows the same basic rules as ours.
In the study published in the journal Biology Letters, researchers recorded nearly 600 vocalizations (发声) from 28 adult male penguins living in Italian zoos. (Males tend to vocalize a lot during the mating period, which is why the researchers turned to this population.) The scientists knew from previous research that African penguins bonk using three distinct types of sound, similar to human syllables (音节), when greeting one another, mating, or defending territory. But the researchers wanted to know whether those “syllables” followed two common linguistic (语言学的) rules.
One of those rules, called Zipf’s law in short, was proposed in 1945 by the linguist George Zipf. The law states that the more frequently a word is used in any language, the shorter it tends to be (think of words like “the,” “to” and “of” in English). Previous studies have analyzed more than 1,000 world languages for evidence of Zipf’s 1aw and the rule holds up in all of them.
The other rule, known as the Menzerath-Altmann law, says that the longer a word or phrase is, the shorter its component syllables are, while shorter words are more likely to have longer syllables. The word “onomatopoeia,” for example, is made of six very short syllables, while “couch” is made of one longer one. Previous studies have shown that nonhuman primates (灵长类动物) follow both these rules when they communicate with each other but what about jackass penguins?
The researchers in the new study found that, yes, the songs of the male jackass penguin conform to both Zipf’s and Menzerath-Altmann’s laws. The shortest calls tended to be the most common, and the longest phrases were made up of the shortest syllables. This jackass study provided the first nonprimate evidence that these common linguistic patterns extend into the animal kingdom, the authors wrote, and that’s nothing to hem and haw at.
8. Why did the researchers choose adult male jackass penguins?
A. They can vocalize different kinds of sounds.
B. They are more accessible than other penguins.
C. They communicate with each other through honking.
D. They make sounds frequently during the mating period.
9. What does the author try to express by mentioning the words “the”, “to” and “of” in English?
A. George Zipf’s idea is reasonable.
B. These words are extremely simple.
C. Previous studies ate very meaningful.
D. English is quite similar to other languages.
10. Which of the following fully explains what the Menzerath-Altmann law means?
A. Egg and food. B. Contradictory and shout.
C. Learn and earn. D. Discrimination and prescription.
11. What conclusion has the new study made?
A. Many languages follow the same linguistic rules.
B. How Jackass penguins communicate wi1h each other.
C. Jackass penguins obey linguistic rules similar to those of humans.
D. ZipF’s law and Menzerath Alumann law are commonly applied rules.
答案
In the study published in the journal Biology Letters, researchers recorded nearly 600 vocalizations (发声) from 28 adult male penguins living in Italian zoos. (Males tend to vocalize a lot during the mating period, which is why the researchers turned to this population.) The scientists knew from previous research that African penguins bonk using three distinct types of sound, similar to human syllables (音节), when greeting one another, mating, or defending territory. But the researchers wanted to know whether those “syllables” followed two common linguistic (语言学的) rules.
One of those rules, called Zipf’s law in short, was proposed in 1945 by the linguist George Zipf. The law states that the more frequently a word is used in any language, the shorter it tends to be (think of words like “the,” “to” and “of” in English). Previous studies have analyzed more than 1,000 world languages for evidence of Zipf’s 1aw and the rule holds up in all of them.
The other rule, known as the Menzerath-Altmann law, says that the longer a word or phrase is, the shorter its component syllables are, while shorter words are more likely to have longer syllables. The word “onomatopoeia,” for example, is made of six very short syllables, while “couch” is made of one longer one. Previous studies have shown that nonhuman primates (灵长类动物) follow both these rules when they communicate with each other but what about jackass penguins?
The researchers in the new study found that, yes, the songs of the male jackass penguin conform to both Zipf’s and Menzerath-Altmann’s laws. The shortest calls tended to be the most common, and the longest phrases were made up of the shortest syllables. This jackass study provided the first nonprimate evidence that these common linguistic patterns extend into the animal kingdom, the authors wrote, and that’s nothing to hem and haw at.
8. Why did the researchers choose adult male jackass penguins?
A. They can vocalize different kinds of sounds.
B. They are more accessible than other penguins.
C. They communicate with each other through honking.
D. They make sounds frequently during the mating period.
9. What does the author try to express by mentioning the words “the”, “to” and “of” in English?
A. George Zipf’s idea is reasonable.
B. These words are extremely simple.
C. Previous studies ate very meaningful.
D. English is quite similar to other languages.
10. Which of the following fully explains what the Menzerath-Altmann law means?
A. Egg and food. B. Contradictory and shout.
C. Learn and earn. D. Discrimination and prescription.
11. What conclusion has the new study made?
A. Many languages follow the same linguistic rules.
B. How Jackass penguins communicate wi1h each other.
C. Jackass penguins obey linguistic rules similar to those of humans.
D. ZipF’s law and Menzerath Alumann law are commonly applied rules.
答案
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