Cover not available
Article published In:
Gesture
Vol. 22:2 (2023) ► pp.121–153

Chimpanzees coordinate interrogative markers to ask questions

| Project Chimps
| Central Washington University, Fauna Foundation & Friends of Washoe
| Yakima Valley College
| Augusta University

Questions serve to initiate and continue conversation as well as to gain information and introduce new topics. In signed languages a question can be signaled by modifying the content of an utterance or by coordinating the use of nonmanual markers (e.g., the questioning look) and manual modulation (e.g., holding the sign for an extended duration). Cross-fostered chimpanzees, who use signs of American Sign Language (ASL), have demonstrated behaviors that appear in human conversation, including question-answer exchanges. The current study describes the production of questions by signing chimpanzees in a conversational context and offers a methodology for quantifying the relationship between nonmanual markers and manual modulation involved in interrogative utterances.

Keywords: chimpanzee, sign language, question, sign modulation, interrogative marking
Article outline
  • Introduction
    • Producing questions in signed languages
      • Nonmanual markers
        • Nonmanual markers in interrogatives
      • Manual modulation
        • Manual modulation in interrogatives
    • Signed communication in other apes
      • Questions under cross-fostering conditions
    • The current study
  • Method
    • Participants
    • Video corpus
    • Transcripts
    • Variables
      • Sign position within an utterance
      • Sign duration
      • Questioning look
        • Coding procedure
        • Interobserver reliability
    • Final sample
    • Statistical analysis
  • Results
    • Single sign utterances
      • Question 1
    • Multiple sign utterances
      • Question 2
      • Question 3
      • Question 4
    • Conclusion
  • Discussion
    • Relationship between the questioning look and duration of signs
      • Confirming previous findings
    • Relationship between the questioning look and sign position
  • Challenges of establishing reliable measures
    • Detailed analyses
  • References
Published online: 19 March 2024
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/gest.22022.dom
References
Baker-Shenk, C.
(1983) A Microanalysis of The Nonmanual Components of Questions in American Sign Language. [Doctoral dissertation, University of California, Berkeley]. University of California eScholarship. [URL]
Bateson, M. & Martin, P.
(2021) Measuring behaviour: An introductory guide. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Beran, M. J. & Heimbauer, L. A.
(2015) A Longitudinal assessment of vocabulary retention in symbol-competent chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes). PLoS ONE 10 (2): e0118408. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Branchini, C., Cardinaletti, A., Cecchetto, C., Donati, C. & Geraci, C.
(2013) Wh-duplication in Italian Sign Language (LIS). Sign Language & Linguistics, 16 (2), 157–188. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Brooks, M. E., Kristensen, K., van Benthem, K. J., Magnusson, A., Berg, C. W., Nielsen, A., Skaug, H. J., Maechler, M. & Bolker, B. M.
(2017) glmmTMB balances speed and flexibility among packages for zero-inflated generalized linear mixed modeling. The R Journal, 9 (2), 378–400. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Bodamer, M. D. & Gardner, R. A.
(2002) How cross-fostered chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) initiate and maintain conversations. Journal of Comparative Psychology, 116 (1), 12–26. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Cibulka, P.
(2016) On how to do things with holds: Manual movement phases as part of interactional practices in signed conversation. Sign Language Studies, 16 (4), 447–472. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Cifone, M. V.
(2013) Questioning and learning: How do we recognize children’s questions? Curriculum and Teaching Dialogue, 15 (1&2), 41–55.Google Scholar
Chalcraft, V. J. & Gardner, R. A.
(2005) Cross-fostered chimpanzees modulate signs of American Sign Language. Gesture, 5 1, 107–132. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Collins, E. & Jensvold, M. L.
(2021, March 26). Communicative Function in the Utterances of Two Signing Chimpanzees [Poster presentation]. University of Indiana Animal Behavior Conference. [URL] (last access 1 February 2024).
(2020, December 10). Communicative Function of Utterances in Two Signing Chimpanzees. [Poster Presentation] Conférence Virtuelle SQEBC 2020. [URL] (last access 1 February 2024).
Covington, V. C.
(1973) Juncture in American Sign Language. Sign Language Studies, 2 1, 29–38. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Dachkovsky, S., Healy, C. & Sandler, W.
(2013) Visual intonation in two sign languages. Phonology, 30 (2), 211–252. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Davis, E. A.
(1932) The form and function of questions. Child Development, 3 (1), 57–74. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
de Vos, C., Torreira, F. & Levinson, S. C.
(2016) Turn-timing in signed conversations: coordinating stroke-to-stroke turn boundaries. In J. Holler, K. H. Kendrick, M. Casillas & S. C. Levinson (Eds.), Turn-Taking in human communicative interaction (Vol 61:1919, pp. 183–195). Frontier Psychology. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Dombrausky, K., Coffman, G., de Bree, E. C. & Jensvold, M. L.
(2018, March). Chimpanzees modulate signs in requests. [Poster session]. Northwest Anthropological Conference, Boise, ID. [URL] (last access 1 February 2024).
Ekman, P. & Rosenberg, E. L.
(Eds.) (2005) What the face reveals: Basic and applied studies of spontaneous expression using the facial action coding system (FACS). Oxford: Oxford University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Fenlon, J., Cooperrider, K., Keane, J., Brentari, D. & Goldin-Meadow, S.
(2019) Comparing sign language and gesture: Insights from pointing. Glossa: a journal of general linguistics 4 (1): 21, 1–26. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Fischer, S. D.
(2006) Questions and negation in American Sign Language. In U. Zeshan (Ed.) Interrogative and negative constructions in sign languages (pp. 165–197) Nijmegen: Ishara Press.Google Scholar
Fouts, D. H.
(1994) The use of remote video recordings to study the use of American Sign Language by chimpanzees when no humans are present. In R. A. Gardner, B. Chiarelli & F. X. Plooij (Eds.), The ethological roots of culture (pp. 271–284). Amsterdam: Kluwer Academic Publishers. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Fouts, R. S. & Fouts, D. H.
(1989) Loulis in conversation with the cross-fostered chimpanzees. In R. A. Gardner, B. T. Gardner & T. E. Van Cantfort (Eds.), Teaching sign language to chimpanzees (pp. 293–307). Albany, NY: SUNY Press.Google Scholar
Fouts, R. S., Hirsch, A. D. & Fouts, D. H.
(1982) Cultural transmission of a human language in a chimpanzee mother-infant relationship. In H. E. Fitzgerald, J. A. Mullins & P. Gage (Eds.), Child nurturance: Studies of development in nonhuman primates (3rd edn., pp. 159–193). New York, NY: Plenum Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Gardner, B. T. & Gardner, R. A.
(1971) Two-way conversation with an infant chimpanzee. In A. Schrier & F. Stollnitz (Eds.), Behavior of nonhuman primates: Modern research trends (Vol 31, pp. 118–184). New York, NY: Academic Press.Google Scholar
(1975) Evidence for sentence constituents in the early utterances of child and chimpanzee. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 104 (3), 244–267. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(1985) Signs of intelligence in cross-fostered chimpanzees. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, B 308 1, 159–176.Google Scholar
(1989) Cross-fostered chimpanzees: II. Modulation of meaning. In P. G. Heltne & L. A. Marquardt (Eds.), Understanding chimpanzees (pp. 234–241). Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Gardner, B. T., Gardner, R. A. & Nichols, S. G.
(1989) Shapes and uses of signs. In R. A. Gardner, B. T. Gardner & T. E. Van Cantfort (Eds.), Teaching sign language to chimpanzees (pp. 55 – 180). Albany, NY: SUNY Press.Google Scholar
Gardner, B. T. & Gardner, R. A.
(1994) Development of phrases in the utterances of children and cross-fostered chimpanzees. In R. A. Gardner, B. Chiarelli, and F. X. Plooij (Eds.), The ethological roots of culture (pp. 223–255). Amsterdam: Kluwer Academic Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Gardner, R. A. & Gardner, B. T.
(1969) Teaching sign language to a chimpanzee. Science, 165 1, 664–672. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(1970, December). Communication with a young chimpanzee: Washoe’s vocabulary [Speech presentation]. Colloques internationaux du C.N.R.S.
(1975) Early signs of language in child and chimpanzee. Science, 187 1, 752–753. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(1978) Comparative psychology and language acquisition. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 309 1, 37–76. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(1984) A vocabulary test for chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes). Journal of Comparative Psychology, 98 ( 4 ), 381–404. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(1989) A cross-fostering laboratory. In R. A. Gardner, B. T. Gardner & T. E. Van Cantfort (Eds.), Teaching sign language to chimpanzees (pp. 1–28). Albany, NY: SUNY Press.Google Scholar
Gardner, R. A., Gardner, B. T. & Van Cantfort, T. E.
(1989) (Eds.), Teaching sign language to chimpanzees. Albany, NY: SUNY Press.Google Scholar
Gardner, R. A., Van Cantfort, T. E. & Gardner, B. T.
(1992) Categorical replies to categorical questions by cross-fostered chimpanzees. The American Journal of Psychology, 105 (1), 22–57. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Gardner, R. A. & Gardner, B. T.
(1994) Ethological roots of language. In R. A. Gardner, B. Chiarelli & F. X. Plooij (Eds.), The ethological roots of culture (pp. 271–284). Amsterdam: Kluwer Academic Publishers. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Geraci, C., Bayley, R., Cardinaletti, A., Cecchetto, C. & Donati, C.
(2015) Variation in Italian Sign Language (LIS): The case of wh-signs. Linguistics, 53 (1), 125–151. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Groeber, S. & Pochon-Berger, E.
(2014) Turns and turn-taking in sign language interaction: A study of turn-final holds. Journal of Pragmatics, 65 1, 121–136. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Hartmann, J. Q.
(2011) Timing of turn initiations in signed conversations with cross-fostered chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes). International Journal of Comparative Psychology, 24 1, 177–209. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Hothorn, T., Bretz, F. & Westfall, P.
(2008) Simultaneous inference in general parametric models. Biometrical Journal, 50 (3), 346–363. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Jensvold, M. L. A. & Gardner, R. A.
(2000) Interactive use of sign language by cross-fostered chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes). Journal of Comparative Psychology, 114 (4), 335–346. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Jensvold, M. L. & Dombrausky, K.
(2019) Sign language in chimpanzees across environments. In M. L. Jensvold (Ed.), Chimpanzee behavior: Recent understandings from captivity to the forest (pp. 141–174). New York: Nova Science Publishers, Inc.Google Scholar
Kita, S., van Gijn, I. and van der Hulst, H.
(1998) Movement Phases in Signs and Co-Speech Gestures, and their Transcription by Human Coders. In I. Wachsmuth and M. Fröhlich (Eds.), Gesture and Sign Language in Human-Computer Interaction, 23–35. Berlin: Springer. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Krause, M. A. & Beran, M. J.
(2020) Words matter: Reflections on language projects with chimpanzees and their implications. American Journal of Primatology, 82 (10), e23187. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Leavens, D. A., Bard, K. A. & Hopkins, W. D.
(2019) The mismeasure of ape social cognition. Animal cognition, 22 (4), 487–504. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Leeds, C. A. & Jensvold, M. L.
(2013) The communicative function of five signing chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes). Pragmatics & Cognition, 21 (1), 224–246. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Leitten, L., Jensvold, M. L., Fouts, R. S. & Wallin, J. M.
(2012) Contingency in requests of signing chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes). Interaction Studies, 13 (2), 147–164. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Liddell, S. K.
(1978) Nonmanual signals and relative clauses in American Sign Language. In P. Siple (Ed.), Understanding language through sign language research (pp. 59–90). New York: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Mendis, K. P.
(1985) A Comparative Study Examining the Modulatory Usage of Signing Chimpanzees [Unpublished master’s thesis]. Central Washington University.
Metzler, D. K.
(2011) Vocabulary Growth in Adult Cross-fostered Chimpanzees [Unpublished master’s thesis], Central Washington University.
Neidle, C., Kegl, J., MacLaughlin, D., Bahan, B. & Lee, R. G.
(2000) The syntax of American Sign Language: Functional categories and hierarchical structure. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.Google Scholar
Nespor, M. & Sandler, W.
(1999) Prosody in Israeli Sign Language. Language and Speech, 42 (2–3), 143–176. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
NOVA; First Signs of Washoe, The
Boston, MA: GBH Archives. [URL] and [URL] (both last access 1 February 2024).
Pfau, R. & Quer, J.
(2010) Nonmanuals: Their grammatical and prosodic roles. In D. Brentari (Ed.), Sign languages: A Cambridge language survey, 381–402. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Potosky, R.
(2010) Use Of Modulation in Response to Requests For Clarification in Chimpanzees [Unpubished master’s thesis]. Central Washington University.
R Core Team
(2022) R: A language and environment for statistical computing. R Foundation for Statistical Computing, Vienna, Austria. [URL] (last access 1 February 2024).
Racine, T. P., Leavens, D. A., Susswein, N. & Wereha, T. J.
(2008) Conceptual and methodological issues in the investigation of primate intersubjectivity. In F. Morganti, A. Carassa & G. Riva (Eds.) Enacting intersubjectivity: A cognitive and social perspective on the study of interactions (pp. 65–79). Amsterdam: IOS Press.Google Scholar
Reimchen, M. & Soderstrom, M.
(2017) Do questions get infants talking? Infant vocal responses to questions and declaratives in maternal speech. Infant and Child Development, 26: e1985, 1–16. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Rimpau, J. B., Gardner, R. A. & Gardner, B. T.
(1989) Expression of person, place, and instrument in ASL utterances of children and chimpanzees. In R. A. Gardner, B. T. Gardner & T. E. Van Cantfort (Eds.), Teaching sign language to chimpanzees (pp. 240–268). Albany, NY: SUNY Press.Google Scholar
Shaw, H. L.
(2001) Gaze Direction in Conversational Interactions of Chimpanzees [Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Nevada, Reno].
Shiau, J.
(2005) Chimpanzee Use of Modulation in Response to Questions. [Unpublished master’s thesis]. Central Washington University, Ellensburg, WA.
Stamps, J.
(2003) Behavioral processes affecting development: Tinbergen’s fourth question comes of age. Animal Behavior, 66 1, 1–13. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Stokoe, W. C., Casterline, D. C. & Croneberg, C. G.
(1965) A dictionary of American Sign Language on linguistic principles. Washington, D. C.: Gallaudet College Press.Google Scholar
Valli, C. & Lucas, C.
(1995) Linguistics of American Sign Language: An introduction. (2nd edn.) Washington, D. C.: Gallaudet University Press.Google Scholar
Weast, T. P.
(2008) Questions in American Sign Language: A Quantitative Analysis of Raised and Lowered Eyebrows [Doctoral dissertation, The University of Texas at Arlington]. ProQuest Dissertations Publishing.
Wilbur, R.
(2000) Phonological and prosodic layering of nonmanuals in American Sign Language. In L. Emmorey & H. L. Lane (Eds.), The signs of language revisited: An anthology to honor Ursula Bellugi and Edward Klima (pp. 196–220). Psychology Press.Google Scholar
(2009) Effects of varying rate of signing on ASL manual signs and nonmanual marker. Language and Speech, 52 1, 245–285. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Wilbur, R. B. & Martínez, A. M.
(2002) Physical correlates of prosodic structure in American Sign Language. Chicago Linguistic Society, 38 1, 693–704.Google Scholar
Willbur, R. & Patschke, C.
(1999) Syntactic correlates of brow raise in ASL. Sign Language & Linguistics, 2 (1), 3–41. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Zeshan, U.
(2004) Interrogative constructions in signed languages: Crosslinguistic perspectives. Language, 80 (1), 7–39. DOI logoGoogle Scholar