Brevity is not a universal in animal communication: evidence for compression depends on the unit of analysis in small ape vocalizations.

ABSTRACT: Evidence for compression, or minimization of code length, has been found across biological systems from genomes to human language and music. Two linguistic laws-Menzerath's Law (which states that longer sequences consist of shorter constituents) and Zipf's Law of abbreviation (a negative relationship between signal length and frequency of use)-are predictions of compression. It has been proposed that compression is a universal in animal communication, but there have been mixed results, particularly in reference to Zipf's Law of abbreviation. Like songbirds, male gibbons (Hylobates muelleri) engage in long solo bouts with unique combinations of notes which combine into phrases. We found strong support for Menzerath's Law as the longer a phrase, the shorter the notes. To identify phra

SUBMITTER: Clink DJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7211885 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature