View source for Yerkish

{{Short description|Artificial language for non-human primates}}
{{Infobox language
 | name       = Yerkish
 | nativename = Lexigram
 | speakers   = 4 (apes)
 | ref        = {{citation needed|date=August 2013}}
 | creator    = [[Ernst von Glasersfeld]]
 | created    = 
 | setting    = Use a [[Computer keyboard|keyboard]] to punch keys with [[logogram]]s
 | fam2       = [[Animal language]]
 | iso3       = none
 | glotto     = none
 | ietf       = [https://www.kreativekorp.com/clcr/ art-x-yerkish]
}}
'''Yerkish''' is an artificial [[language]] developed for use by [[human|non-human]] [[primate]]s. It employs a [[Computer keyboard|keyboard]] whose keys contain ''lexigrams'', [[symbol]]s corresponding to objects or ideas.<ref name=interactive>{{cite web |title=Interactive Lexigram, History of Ape Language |url=http://www.greatapetrust.org/science/history-of-ape-language/interactive-lexigram/ |website=[[Great Ape Trust]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100520131446/http://www.greatapetrust.org/science/history-of-ape-language/interactive-lexigram/ |archive-date=May 20, 2010 |date=2010}}</ref>

Lexigrams were notably used by the [[Georgia State University]] Language Research Center to communicate with [[bonobo]]s and [[Common chimpanzee|chimpanzee]]s. Researchers and primates were able to communicate using lexigram boards made in up to three panels with a total of 384 keys.<ref name="interactive" /><ref>Jeffrey Kluger, [http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2008867,00.html "Inside the Minds of Animals"], ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'', August 5, 2010.</ref>

== Context ==
The Yerkish language was developed by [[Ernst von Glasersfeld]] and used by Duane Rumbaugh and [[Sue Savage-Rumbaugh]] of Georgia State University while working with primates at the [[Yerkes National Primate Research Center]] of [[Emory University]] in [[Atlanta, Georgia]]. Primates were taught to communicate by means of a lexigram board, a computerized array of keys labeled with lexigrams. Von Glasersfeld coined the term "lexigram" in 1971, created the first 120 of them, and designed the grammar that regulated their combination. This artificial language was called Yerkish in honor of [[Robert M. Yerkes]], the founder of the laboratory within which the lexigrams were first used.

The first ape trained to communicate in Yerkish was the chimpanzee [[Lana (chimpanzee)|Lana]], beginning in 1973 within the context of the LANA project. Researchers were hoping Lana would not only interpret the Yerkish language, but would also participate in communication with others through this newfound language.

== Design considerations ==
=== Lexigram concept ===
{{multiple image|perrow = 2|total_width=220
| image1 = Yerkish Juice.svg
| image2 = LexigramKanzi.svg
| image3 = Lexigram Sue.svg
| image4 = LexigramNyota.svg
| footer = Lexigrams representing (clockwise from top left) [[juice]]; bonobo [[Kanzi]]; bonobo [[Nyota (bonobo)|Nyota]];  human researcher [[Sue Savage-Rumbaugh]]
}}
Research leading to 1973 suggested chimpanzees could acquire and retain symbolic use of visual items. In an attempt to structure the use of symbols as language, Yerkish formalized the use of the ''lexigram'', a graphic design which represents a word but is not necessarily indicative of the object to which it refers.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|date=September 1973|title=A computer-controlled language training system for investigating the language skills of young apes|journal=Behav. Res. Methods Instrum.|volume=5|pages=385–392|doi=10.3758/BF03200213 |last1=Rumbaugh |first1=Duane M. |last2=Gill |first2=Timothy V. |last3=Brown |first3=Josephine V. |last4=von Glasersfeld |first4=E. C. |last5=Pisani |first5=Pier |last6=Warner |first6=Harold |last7=Bell |first7=C. L. |issue=5 |s2cid=62689872 |doi-access=free }}</ref>

Each lexigram is designed to be semantically and syntactically ''unequivocal'', a conscious effort to reduce the ambiguity of English. For example, the use of color conveys semantic code, with red lexigrams identifying ingestible items like food and drink, blue lexigrams designating activities, and violet lexigrams representing animate beings like humans.

Existing technical limitations guided lexigrams to be constructed by 9 single elements which could be combined by being superimposed. The lexigram for "juice", which is red in color, is a combination of elements 1 (a vertical line), 5 (a circle), and 9 (a wavy line).

Von Glaserfeld created approximately 150 of the first lexigrams in the Yerkish language.

== Interface ==
=== Keyboard ===
A lexigram keyboard was created for Lana with each key representing various nouns or verbs such as food, eat, apple, drink, etc.

Von Glaserfeld used 25 of them in his initial experiment with Lana. Each of these keys was 1{{frac|1|2}} x 1 inch and lit up when pressed.<ref name=":0" />

After pressing a certain key, the corresponding item would emerge from a food dispenser placed next to the keyboard, and through a series of experiments, researchers hoped that Lana would learn to interpret what each key would correlate to and learn to meaningfully communicate her requests.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Bettoni|first=Marco|date=2007|title=The Yerkish Language. From Operational Methodology to Chimpanzee Communication.|url=http://weknow.ch/marco/A2007/CF_EvG/Bettoni_2007_The_Yerkish_Language.pdf|journal=Constructivist Foundations|volume=2|pages=32–34|via=weknow.ch}}</ref>

== See also ==
* [[Primate cognition]]
* [[Kanzi]]
* [[Panbanisha]]
* [[Nyota (bonobo)]]
* [[Lana (chimpanzee)]]
* [[Great Ape Trust]]
* [[Great ape language]]

== Notes ==
{{reflist}}

== References ==
{{refbegin}}
# Rumbaugh, D. M. ed. (1977) ''Language Learning by a Chimpanzee. The LANA Project''. New York, Academic Press
# von Glasersfeld, E., Department of Psychology, University of Georgia. [http://www.aclweb.org/anthology/J79-1012 The Yerkish language for Non-Human Primates] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180922135840/http://www.aclweb.org/anthology/J79-1012 |date=2018-09-22 }}. American Journal of Computational Linguistics, 1974, 1.
# Bettoni M. C. (2007) [http://www.weknow.ch/marco/A2007/CF_EvG/Bettoni_2007_The_Yerkish_Language.pdf The yerkish language: From operational methodology to chimpanzee communication]. Constructivist Foundations 2(2-3): 32–38.
# {{cite journal |last1=Rumbaugh |first1=Duane M. |last2=Gill |first2=Timothy V. |last3=Brown |first3=Josephine V. |last4=von Glasersfeld |first4=E. C. |last5=Pisani |first5=Pier |last6=Warner |first6=Harold |last7=Bell |first7=C. L. |title=A computer-controlled language training system for investigating the language skills of young apes |journal=Behavior Research Methods & Instrumentation |date=September 1973 |volume=5 |issue=5 |pages=385–392 |doi=10.3758/BF03200213|doi-access=free }}
{{refend}}

{{Great ape language}}
{{Constructed languages}}
{{list of writing systems}}

[[Category:Constructed languages]]
[[Category:Animal rights]]
[[Category:Animal communication]]
[[Category:Constructed languages introduced in the 1970s]]
[[Category:1971 introductions]]
[[Category:Primatology]]