New studies show that chimpanzees have a more complex form of communication than previously thought, with striking similarities to human language. A team led by evolutionary biologist Cédric Girard-Buttoz at CNRS in Lyon, France, has found that chimpanzees can combine sounds to convey new meanings, suggesting a level of linguistic complexity previously underestimated.
The team recorded more than 4,300 sounds produced by 53 adult chimpanzees in Taï forest, Côte d’Ivoire. It shows that these primates perform a systematic combination of sounds in a way that’s structurally similar to how humans combine words into sentences. Carefully mixing together two different sounds—what scientists in this field call “bigrams”—chimpanzees can create entirely new meanings. For instance, a threat grunt can be paired with a threat bark. In the same way, a breathless hoo may come after a yell, illustrating this intelligent communication tactic.
Girard-Buttoz and his team traced 16 different bigrams. These combinations allow chimpanzees to discuss multiple subjects simultaneously. This dense form of content is not much different than human speech, where different pieces can work together to create multiple meanings at different levels.
“In the chimpanzee, it looks as if they use combination much more broadly, across a vast diversity of daily life situations,” said Girard-Buttoz. He underscored the broader significance of these findings to our understanding of primate communication more generally.
At least four of these serve as intentional communicative signals, adding to the complex vocal call of chimpanzees. They possess around a dozen single sounds that can be combined into hundreds of sequences, allowing for nuanced expressions and interactions. The study indicates that their vocal structures are much more complex than bonobos, their near-matching genetic cousins.
Simon Townsend, a researcher in the field, remarked on the significance of this discovery, stating, “The chimp combinatorial vocal system is more complex than we previously thought.” The beauty is that all of those combinations can communicate several messages simultaneously, he explained. This capacity is a fundamental property that distinguishes human language from the communication observed in the animal kingdom.
Girard-Buttoz and his colleagues carried out companion field studies in 2019 and 2020. As they conducted their research, they captured many different sounds. What they would come to find is that communication among chimpanzees is unbelievably complex. This intricacy could indicate that these primates have a greater awareness of social relationships and their surroundings.
“These combinations are potentially to communicate about more than one thing at the same time, exactly what we do in a sentence,” Girard-Buttoz noted, further illustrating the parallels between human and chimpanzee communication systems.
The results thus provoke fascinating queries regarding the evolutionary precursors of language. Girard-Buttoz speculated that similar systems may exist within bonobos, stating, “I wouldn’t be surprised if the bonobos have the same systems.”
The details are just starting to emerge, a picture is coming together of the rich complexity of chimpanzee communication. This underscores the importance of understanding these animals not as entities to observe, but as creatures with complex social systems and relationships.
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