Table 1.
The major comparisons between birdsong syntactic structure and human syntactic structure.
| Birdsong | Human language syntax | |
|---|---|---|
| Precedence-based dependencies (1st order Markov) | Yes | Yes, but in sound system only |
| Adjacency-based dependencies | Yes | Yes |
| Non-adjacent dependencies | In some cases | Yes |
| Unbounded non-adjacent dependencies | Not known | Yes |
| Describable by (restricted) finite-state transition network | Yes (k-reversible) | No |
| Grouping: elements combined into “chunks” (phrases) | Yes | Yes |
| Phrases “labeled” by element features | No | Yes (words) |
| Hierarchical phrases | Limited (in some species) | Yes, unlimited |
| Asymmetrical hierarchical phrases | No | Yes |
| Hierarchical self-embedding of phrases of the same type | No | Yes |
| Hierarchical embedding of phrases of different types | No | Yes |
| Phonologically null chunks | No | Yes |
| Displacement of phrases | No | Yes |
| Duality of phrase interpretation | No | Yes |
| Crossed-serial dependencies | No | Yes |
| Productive link to “concepts” | No | Yes |
Most human language syntactic properties are not found in birdsong. The only exceptions relate to the properties of human language sound systems.