Monkey calls give clues to language origins

Monkey calls give clues to language origins

news.bbc.co.uk

Scientists may be a step closer to understanding the origins of human language.

Two studies suggest that the ability to combine sounds and words to alter meaning may be rooted in a species of monkey.
A team found the Campbell's monkey can add a simple sound to its alarm calls to create new ones and then combine them to convey even more information.

The researchers discovered that the monkeys made several distinct alarm cries, among them calls described as "boom", "krak" and "hok".
The team found that booms were sounded when a falling branch had been spotted or to initiate group

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Wow Amazing , hmmm is not even rudimentary language a indication of intelligence?

We should not treat these creatures so poorly world wide..

Any way ...

Professor Zuberbuehler said: "Sometimes the monkey can give 10, 15 or even 20 calls, and typically different types of calls can appear in these sequences... So we tried to understand what particular context would trigger these sequences."

Wow i mean if we can identify the 15 to 20 calls , we could communicate directly via language with them instead of using symbols.


I foresee swathes of monkey armies battling across the planet being herded and ordered about by expert monkey speakers...
(if the military can use it ..they will)

Mindless Grunts? or proof of the evolution of language? what do you all think?

news.bbc.co.uk
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[Edit:Spelling]



[edit on 11/12/09 by Quantum_Squirrel]

reply to post by Quantum_Squirrel


It makes sense that they are using the basic blocks of language structure.
That's absolutely freaking incredible though.
Monkeys using morphemes

It makes one wonder though; why do we humans think we are so smart?
All we have to compare ourselves to are our closest relatives who are just now learning to warn each other/themselves of an approaching leopard or of an approaching migration period by making sounds or speech-like noises.
THat's all we do to each other. We walk around making sounds at each other.
If you don't know what I mean , pay close attention the next time you hear someone speaking a language you don't understand.
You will soon find yourself asking how the hell those sounds could mean anything at all.