Animals that use vocal signals have a stock of basic sounds which vary according to species. A cow has fewer than ten; a chicken has around twenty and a fox over thirty. Dolphins have between twenty and thirty, and so do gorillas and chimpanzees. Most animals can use each basic sound only one. That is, the number of message an animal can send is restricted to the number of basic sounds, or occasionally the basic sounds plus a few simple combination.
Human language works rather differently. Each language has a stock of sound units or phonemes which are similar in number to the basic sounds possessed by t animals; the average number is between thirty and forty. But each phoneme is normally meaningless in isolation. It becomes meaningful only when it is combined with other phonemes. That is, sounds such as f, g. d, o, and mean nothing separately. They take on meaning only when they are combined together in various ways, as in fog, dog, and god.
This organization of language into two layers-a layer of sound which combines into a second layer of larger units-is known as duality or double articulation. A flexible than one without it, because a far greater number of messages can be sent.
Human language works rather differently. Each language has a stock of sound units or phonemes which are similar in number to the basic sounds possessed by t animals; the average number is between thirty and forty. But each phoneme is normally meaningless in isolation. It becomes meaningful only when it is combined with other phonemes. That is, sounds such as f, g. d, o, and mean nothing separately. They take on meaning only when they are combined together in various ways, as in fog, dog, and god.
This organization of language into two layers-a layer of sound which combines into a second layer of larger units-is known as duality or double articulation. A flexible than one without it, because a far greater number of messages can be sent.
