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The Official Newspaper of

Volume I
Issue 2
February 2001

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www.DogsInTheNews.com	Volume I - Issue 2 - February 2001	February 1, 2001

Russian Scientists Learn to Speak 'Dog'
February 1, 2001 Moscow, USSR It still may be a while before they publish the first Russian-Dog dictionary, but researchers at the Moscow Zoo believe that they have translated several sounds of the Dhole, an endangered wild dog that inhabits the mountainous regions from Southern Siberia to India. This particular species of dog has been extremely elusive and rarely encountered by humans, which makes these findings all the more significant. The language, now known as "dholish", scientists say consists of at least 11 basic sounds, ranging from a grumble to a "biphonic yap-squeak". Biphonic sounds are those that appear to resonate two distinct voices at once. Dholish seems to be a highly dynamic language; the meaning of the sound depends upon the speaker's age, social status, health and living environment. "For example", explains researcher Ilya Volodin, "a dhole male will cry a whistling call if a female is separated because of problems with her health. This same call is produced by dhole parents and young who have become separated."	Also, the same yap used by an adult dhole to recognize its father's elder status, according to researcher Elena Volodina is the same call that infant dholes use to say, "I'm hungry! Regurgitate me some food!" These findings were based on observations and spectrograms of the conversations of nine captive dholes in the Moscow Zoo. The full report has been accepted for publication in the Russian Zoological Journal. Related articles: Scientists Record Dogs Laughing (August 1, 2001) Hi-Tech Gadged Reads Dogs' Minds (August 17, 2001) §§§ ^Articles
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Is that similar to the American scientists who tried to show that those apes were really talking?

The American Scientist, or rather 'The trouble with ape studies'

Early Research

Discourse with an ape. (1969, January). Scientific American, 50. (M)

Ford, B. (1970, May). How they taught a chimp to talk. Science Digest, 10-17. (L)

Gardener, R.A., & Gardener, B.T. (1969). Teaching sign language to an ape. Science, 165, 664-672.

No thanks, said the ape. (1971, December 20). Newsweek. 101. (L)

Premack, A.J., & Premack, D. (1971, October). Teaching language to an ape. Scientific American, 92-99. (M)

Premack, D. (1971). Language in a chimpanzee? Science, 172, 808-822. (H)

Later Research

D'Aulaire, E. & D'Aulaire O. (1975, October). The ape that "talks" with people. Reader's Digest, 94-98. (L)

Patterson, F. (1981, December). Koko, the articulate gorilla. Ms., 43-44, 46, 48. (L)

Sherman to Austin: Pass the bananas. (1978, August 19). Science News, 117-118. (M)

Controversy

Are those apes really talking? (1980, March 10). Time, 50. (L)

Begley, S. & Carey, J. (1979, December 31). Apes no use language. Newsweek, 66. (L)

Greenberg, J. (1980, May 10. Ape talk: More than pigeon English? Science News, 298-300 (M)

Premack, D., & Woodruff, G. (1978). Chimpanzee problem solving: A test for comprehension. Science, 202, 532-535. (H)

Savage-Rumbaugh, E.S., & Rumbaugh, D. (1979). Chimpanzee problem comprehension: Insufficient evidence. Science, 202, 1201-1202. (H)

Terrace, H.S., Petitto, L.A., Sanders, R.G., & Bever, T.G. (1979). Can an ape create a sentence? Science, 206, 891-902. (H)

Thompson, C.R., & Church, R.M. (1980). An explanation of the language of a chimpanzee. Science, 208, 313-314. (H)

The trouble with ape studies. (1979, November). Psychology Today, 63. (M)