22 - Birdsong for biolinguistics

Summary

This chapter introduces the basics of birdsong science. It discusses the degree and relevance of behavioral, neural, and evolutionary analogies between birdsong and human speech by supplying examples from the current literature as well as from their own research. The chapter introduces general descriptions of birdsong in relation to human speech. Five topics are selected for comparison: behavior, development, syntax, the brain, and genes. The chapter defines some of the most commonly used terms in birdsong. Birdsong learning comprises two distinctive phases: the sensory phase and the sensorimotor phase. In the human brain, the so-called language areas reside between the motor and perceptual systems. The chapter provides more specific points that are useful in making advanced comparisons between birdsong and human speech, especially in the context of biolinguistics. Syntactical control in birdsong involves at least two distinct processes: chunking and branching.