An international group of scientists has discovered a statistical structure in the songs of Japanese amadins, which is characteristic of human language. According to the researchers, this suggests that one of the fundamental mechanisms of language may have evolved whenever a communication system was passed down from generation to generation through learning.
The results of the research were published in the journal Science Advances.
Scientists have found that the songs of amadins consist of stable sequences of sounds, the equivalent of "words". The frequency of their use obeys the same statistical law as in human speech; a small number of elements occur very often, while the majority are used significantly less often.
The researchers also followed the development of the young birds' singing and found that this pattern was evident in the earliest stages of learning. According to their data, cubs, like human infants, unconsciously pick up repeated combinations of sounds and form their own vocalization system based on them.
The authors noted that they had previously discovered similar statistical patterns in the songs of sperm whales. The new results suggest that such organization arises independently in different species, if the complex communication system is learned and transmitted culturally, rather than inherited genetically.
According to the researchers, this does not mean that birds have a human-perceived language. But the work shows that some of the fundamental principles that make communication suitable for learning and transmission between generations may be universal across species.
