Natural Language - Definition and Examples

Natural Language s A natural language is a human language, such as English or Standard Mandarin, as opposed to a  constructed language, an artificial language, a machine language, or the language of formal logic. Also called  ordinary language. The theory of universal grammar proposes that all natural languages have certain underlying rules that shape and limit the structure of the specific grammar for any given language.Natural language processing (also known as computational linguistics) is the scientific study of language from a computational perspective, with a focus on the interactions between natural (human) languages and computers. Observations The term natural language is used in opposition to the terms formal language and artificial language, but the important difference is that natural languages are not actually constructed as artificial languages and they do not actually appear as formal languages. But they are considered and studied as though they were formal languages in principle. Behind the complex and the seemingly chaotic surface of natural languages there areaccording to this way of thinkingrules and principles that determine their constitution and functions. . . .(Sà ¶ren Stenlund, Language and Philosophical Problems. Routledge, 1990)Essential Concepts- All languages are systematic. They are governed by a set of interrelated systems that include phonology, graphics (usually), morphology, syntax, lexicon, and semantics.- All natural languages are conventional and arbitrary. They obey rules, such as assigning a particular word to a particular thing or concept. But there is no reason that this particular word was originally assigned to this particular thing or concept.- All natural languages are redundant, meaning that the information in a sentence is signaled in more than one way.- All natural languages change. There are various ways a language can change and various reasons for this change.(C. M. Millward and Mary Hayes, A Biography of the English Language, 3rd ed. Wadsworth, 2011) Creativity and EfficiencyThe apparent fact that the number of utterances in  a natural language is  unbounded is one of its more widely remarked upon properties and a core tenet of modern linguistic theory. The classic argument for creativity uses the idea that one can continually add further adjuncts to sentences to establish that there can be no longest sentence and therefore no finite number of sentences (see Chomsky, 1957). . . .This conventional argument for the creativity of natural language is overly strained: who has actually heard a 500-word sentence? In contrast, anyone who studies [natural language] generation has available a far more reasonable and commonsense account of creativity, namely that one continually uses new utterances because one is continually faced with new situations . . .. The counterbalance to creativity is the efficiency of language (Barwise Perry, 1983): the fact that many utterances do reoccur countless times (e.g., Where did you go for dinner las t night?).(David D. McDonald, et al., Factors Contributing to Efficiency in Natural Language Generation.  Natural Language Generation, ed. by  Gerard Kempen. Kluwer, 1987) Natural ImprecisionNatural language is the embodiment of human cognition and human intelligence. It is very evident that natural language includes an abundance of vague and indefinite phrases and statements that correspond to imprecision in the underlying cognitive concepts. Terms such as tall, short, hot, and well are extremely difficult to translate into knowledge representation, as required for the reasoning systems under discussion. Without such precision, symbolic manipulation within the computer is bleak, to say the least. However, without the richness of meaning inherent in such phrases, human communication would be severely limited, and it is therefore incumbent on us (to attempt) to include such facility within reasoning systems . . ..(Jay Friedenberg and Gordon Silverman, Cognitive Science: An Introduction to the Study of Mind. SAGE, 2006) See also CommunicationWhat Is Language?

Jaguar Facts (Panthera onca)

Jaguar Facts (Panthera onca) The jaguar (Panthera onca) is the largest big cat in the Americas and the third largest in the world, after the lion and tiger. spost Fast Facts: Jaguar Scientific Name: Panthera oncaCommon Names: JaguarBasic Animal Group: Mammal Size: 5-6 feet plus 27-36 inch tailWeight: 100-250 poundsLifespan: 12-15 yearsDiet: CarnivoreHabitat: Central and South AmericaPopulation: 64,000Conservation Status: Near Threatened Description Both jaguars and leopards have spotted coats, but the jaguar has fewer and larger rosettes (spots), often containing small dots. Jaguars are shorter and stockier than leopards. Most jaguars have golden to reddish-brown spotted coats with white bellies. However, melanistic jaguars or black panthers occur about 6% of the time in South American cats. Albino jaguars or white panthers also occur, but they are rare. Black jaguars occur naturally in wild populations. Alicia Barbas Garcia / EyeEm / Getty Images Male and female jaguars have a similar appearance, but females tend to be 10-20 percent smaller than males. Otherwise, the size of the cats varies greatly, ranging from 3.7-6.1 feet from the nose to the base of the tail. The cats tail is the shortest of the big cats, ranging from 18-36 inches in length. Mature adults may weigh anywhere from 79-348 pounds. Jaguars in the southern end of their range are larger than those found further north. Habitat and Distribution The jaguars range once ran from the Grand Canyon or possibly Colorado in the United States down through Argentina. However, the cat was heavily hunted for its beautiful fur. While its possible a few of the cats remain in Texas, Arizona, and New Mexico, sizable populations only exist from Mexico through Central America and into South America. The cat is protected and believed to have a high chance of survival in the Kaan Biosphere Reserve in Mexico, the Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary in Belize, the Manu National Park in Peru, and the Xingu National Park in Brazil. Jaguars are disappearing from most of the remainder of their range. While jaguars prefer forested areas near water, they also live in shrubland, wetlands, grasslands, and savanna biomes. Diet and Behavior While jaguars resemble leopards, their ecological niche is most similar to that of the tiger. Jaguars stalk and ambush prey, often falling upon the target from a tree. They are strong swimmers and readily pursue prey in water. Jaguars are crepuscular, usually hunting before dawn and after dusk. Prey includes capybara, deer, pigs, frogs, fish, and snakes, including anacondas. The cats jaws have a powerful bite force that enables them to crack open turtle shells and defeat all but the largest caimans. After making a kill, a jaguar will haul its dinner up a tree to eat. Although they are obligate carnivores, jaguars have been observed eating Banisteriopsis caapi  (ayahuasca), a plant containing the psychelic compound N,N-Dimethyltryptamine  (DMT). Reproduction and Offspring Jaguars are solitary cats except for mating. They mate throughout the year, usually whenever food is abundant. Pairs separate immediately after mating. Gestation lasts 93-105 days, resulting in up to four, but usually two, spotted cubs. Only the mother cares for the cubs. Cubs open their eyes at two weeks and are weaned by three months of age. They stay with their mother for a year or two before leaving to find their own territory. Males typically have larger territories than females. Male territories do not overlap. Multiple females may occupy a territory, but the cats tend to avoid each other. Females reach sexual maturity around two years of age, while males mature later at age three or four. Wild jaguars live 12-15 years, but captive cats may live 23 years. Jaguar cubs are spotted. Picture by Tambako the Jaguar / Getty Images Conservation Status The IUCN classifies the jaguars conservation status as near threatened. As of 2017, the total cat population was estimated to be around 64,000 individuals and was decreasing rapidly. Jaguars, especially males, range across vast territories, so the animals are heavily influenced by habitat loss and fragmentation from development, transportation, agriculture, pollution, and logging. As apex predators, they are at risk from diminishing availability of natural prey. Jaguars are not protected across much of their range, particularly in countries where they threaten livestock. They may be hunted as pests, as trophies, or for their fur. While the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of 1973 greatly reduced pelt trade, illegal trade remains a problem. Jaguars and Humans Unlike leopards, lions, and tigers, jaguars rarely attack humans. However, the combination of human encroachment and decreased prey has led to increasing conflict. While the risk of an attack is real, jaguars and pumas (Puma concolor) are much less likely to attack people than other big cats. Perhaps a handful of human attacks by jaguars have been documented in recent history. In contrast, over a thousand people have been attacked by lions in the past 20 years. While the direct risk to humans is small, jaguars readily target pets and livestock. Sources Dinets, V. and P. J. Polechla. First documentation of melanism in the jaguar (Panthera onca) from northern Mexico. Cat News. 42: 18, 2005.Mccain, Emil B.; Childs, Jack L. Evidence of resident Jaguars (Panthera onca) in the Southwestern United States and the Implications for Conservation. Journal of Mammalogy. 89 (1): 1–10, 2008. doi:10.1644/07-MAMM-F-268.1  Mossaz, A.; Buckley, R.C.; Castley. Ecotourism Contributions to Conservation of African Big Cats. Journal for Nature Conservation. 28: 112–118, 2015. doi:10.1016/j.jnc.2015.09.009Quigley, H.; Foster, R.; Petracca, L.; Payan, E.; Salom, R.; Harmsen, B. Panthera onca. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: e.T15953A123791436, 2017. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2017-3.RLTS.T15953A50658693.enWozencraft, W.C. Order Carnivora. In Wilson, D.E.; Reeder, D.M. Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press. pp. 546–547, 2005. ISBN 978-0-8018-8221-0.