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Language and Communication{{/B}} A language is a signaling system which operates with symbolic vocal sounds (语声), and which is used by a group of people for the purpose of communication. Let's look at this {{U}}(51) {{/U}} in more detail because it is language, more than anything else, {{U}}(52) {{/U}} distinguishes man from the rest of the physical world. Other animals, it is true, communicate with one another by {{U}}(53) {{/U}} of cries: for example, many birds utter {{U}}(54) {{/U}} calls at the approach of danger; monkeys utter {{U}}(55) {{/U}} cries, such as expressions of anger, fear and pleasure. {{U}}(56) {{/U}} these various means of communication differ in important ways from human language. For instance, animals' cries do not {{U}}(57) {{/U}} thoughts and feelings clearly. This means, basically, that they lack structure. They lack the kind of structure that {{U}}(58) {{/U}} us to divide a human utterance into {{U}}(59) {{/U}}. We can change an utterance by replacing one word in it with {{U}}(60) {{/U}}: a good illustration of this is a soldier who can say, e.g., "tanks approaching from the north", {{U}}(61) {{/U}} who can change one word and say "aircraft approaching from the north" or "tanks approaching from the west"; but a bird has a single alarm cry, {{U}}(62) {{/U}} means "danger!" This is why the number of signals that an animal can make is very limited: the great tit (山雀) is a case {{U}}(63) {{/U}} point; it has about twenty different calls, {{U}}(64) {{/U}} in human language the number of possible utterances is limitless. It also explains why animal cries are very {{U}}(65) {{/U}} in meaning. |