Apes may combine words in ways previously believed to be unique to humans Research shows

A news research suggests that bonobos, an endangered species of apes, use a combination of calls to promote peace with their partner during mating rituals.

This discovery is part of a study that indicates our close evolutionary relatives that are endemic to the Democratic Republic of Congo can combine vocalizations to form phrases with meanings that transcend the sum of their parts—something often considered exclusive to human language.

Dr. Mélissa Berthet and her colleagues published their findings in the Science journal, explaining that in human language, words are often combined to form phrases that either have a meaning simply derived from the sum of their parts or a meaning that is related to, but distinct from, the meanings of the individual words. “Human language is not as unique as we thought,” said Berthet, the first author of the research from the University of Zürich.

“‘Blond dancer’ – it’s a person that is both blond and a dancer, you just have to add the meanings. But a ‘bad dancer’ is not a person that is bad and a dancer,” said Berthet. “So bad is really modifying the meaning of dancer here.”

It was previously believed that animals such as birds and chimpanzees could only create the first type of combination. However, scientists have now found that bonobos can create both.

The research team recorded 700 vocalizations from 30 adult bonobos comparing the context of each with a list of 300 possible situations or descriptions.

The results revealed that bonobos have seven different types of calls, which are used in 19 combinations. Of these, 15 require further analysis, but four appear to follow the structure of human sentences.

According to the article, yelps, thought to mean “let’s do that,” followed by grunts, which are believed to mean “look at what I am doing,” were combined into the phrase “yelp-grunt,” which seemed to mean “let’s do what I’m doing.” The researchers noted that this combination reflected the sum of its parts and was used by bonobos to encourage others to build their night nests.

The other three combinations had meanings that were related to, but different from, their constituent calls.

The team believes the findings in bonobos, along with previous research in chimpanzees, have important implications for understanding the evolution of language in humans, as all three species demonstrate the ability to combine words or vocalizations to form phrases.

“The cognitive building blocks that facilitate this capacity are at least 7 million years old,” said Dr. Simon Townsend, another author of the study. “And I think that is a really cool finding.”

By Nazrin Sadigova