COMMUNICATION BETWEEN HUMANS AND OTHER SPECIES
The sender and receiver of a communication may be of the same species (intraspecific) or of different species (interspecific). The majority of communication is between individuals of the same species. However, there are some important instances of interspecific communication and the form it takes. Various ways in which humans interpret the behaviour of domestic animals, or give commands to them, fit the definition of interspecific communication.
Recent experiments on animal language are perhaps the most sophisticated attempt yet to establish communication between humans and other species, though their relation to natural animal communication is uncertain. For linguists, the interest of animal communication systems lies in their similarities to and differences from human language, in particular the presence or absence of linguistic elements in non-human systems of communication.
The acceptance of evolutionary principles has resulted in a rejection of the premise that human beings are fundamentally different from all other life forms. The concepts of evolutionary continuity and relatedness have brought about a revolution in the manner in which humans are perceived relative to the rest of the animal kingdom. Many qualities once considered to be exclusively the domain of humans are now widely regarded to occur in other species. This extends to the possession in non-humans of complex cognition and thought.
Thus, an awareness for the attributes that humans share with other life forms and a better understanding of the communicative abilities of ourselves and other animals and the manner in which we interact with one another is of great importance.
