The team isolated what they refer to as a sperm whale phonetic alphabet, which allows for the systematic explanation of the variability in coda structure. The study suggests that this could be the first instance outside of human language where communication provides an example of the linguistic concept of duality of patterning, where individually meaningless elements can be combined to form larger meaningful units. The researchers believe that the meaning of these "words" can change based on various contexts. The study is a significant breakthrough, but the researchers acknowledge that there is still much work to be done, first with sperm whales and then potentially with other species like humpbacks.
Key takeaways:
- Researchers at MIT CSAIL and Project CETI have used machine learning technologies to understand a kind of sperm whale “alphabet”, discovering a new combinatory coding system in their vocalizations.
- The study analyzed a dataset of 8,719 sperm whale codas, and found that the seemingly arbitrary inventory of coda types can be explained by combinations of rhythm, tempo, rubato, and ornamentation features.
- This research marks the first instance outside of human language where a communication provides an example of the linguistic concept of duality of patterning, where individually meaningless elements can be combined to form larger meaningful units.
- While the findings are significant, the researchers acknowledge there is still much work to be done, both with sperm whales and potentially with other species like humpbacks.