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What birds have to say about language

Nature Neuroscience volume 14, pages 947–948 (2011)Cite this article

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Controversy surrounds the suggestion that recursion is a uniquely human computational ability that enables language. A study now finds this ability in a songbird and takes steps toward a model system for syntactic competence.

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Figure 1: A new form of nesting behavior in birds.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Tiffany C. Bloomfield and Daniel Margoliash are in the Department of Psychology, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, USA.,

    Tiffany C Bloomfield & Daniel Margoliash

  2. Daniel Margoliash is also in the Department of Organismal Biology and Anatomy, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, USA.,

    Daniel Margoliash

  3. Timothy Q. Gentner is in the Department of Psychology, and The Kavli Institute for Brain and Mind, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California, USA.,

    Timothy Q Gentner

Authors
  1. Tiffany C Bloomfield
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  2. Timothy Q Gentner
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  3. Daniel Margoliash
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Daniel Margoliash.

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The authors declare no competing financial interests.

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Bloomfield, T., Gentner, T. & Margoliash, D. What birds have to say about language. Nat Neurosci 14, 947–948 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1038/nn.2884

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