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Bonobos use a kind of syntax once thought to be unique to humans

(www.newscientist.com)
189 points docmechanic | 3 comments | 07 Apr 25 15:51 UTC | HN request time: 0.685s | source
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kjkjadksj ◴[11 Apr 25 16:49 UTC] No.43655878[source]▶
It is funny how at least the press written about this sort of research seems to imply only humans have language and some new evidence might challenge that notion.

Really if you ever own a pet, probably any pet I bet, you find that communication in a way that is arguably a language is pretty low level stuff in the animal kingdom. And it makes sense as it is quite useful for a species to communicate things about the world. You turn your community into a meta organism: rather than continuous appendages and nerve endings you might have a meerkat a couple hundred yards observing for predators for you sharing their own senses on their own body with you through their long distance communication abilities in the form of their vocalizations or body language. Now you can solely be a meerkat and get all this information about the area without having to evolve into some lovecraftian horror with a set of eyes and ears every 100 yards.

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1. vinceguidry ◴[11 Apr 25 19:57 UTC] No.43657876[source]▶
There has been a LOT of research on this. A popsci book I've read on the topic is Adam's Tongue. It details the features that separate what's called Animal Communication Systems from human language.

https://www.amazon.com/Adams-Tongue-Humans-Made-Language-ebo...

Obviously pets are quite capable of making their wishes known to us, especially if we facilitate it. It's unclear whether they're actually achieving language. I'm tempted to think they are, especially when I see dogs using push buttons to talk to us on Instagram. But I can't be totally sure.

And even if they were, it would be language we taught them. Not independently developed in the wild.

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2. com2kid ◴[11 Apr 25 20:48 UTC] No.43658369[source]▶
I had a dog that you could ask to do complex tasks and he'd happily go about and do it.

"Go around the corner and get your toy out of the laundry basket".

He'd go around the corner and get his toy out of the laundry basket.

You could also ask him to get dressed (he'd get his rain coat and do his best to put it on) and you could ask him to get other dogs ready to go (he'd grab their leashes and drape the leash around the other dog's necks).

> Not independently developed in the wild.

I'm pretty sure the crows who live next to my house have a complex language. Different squawks for different circumstances. I can tell when one is addressing me vs when the male is calling to his partner.

> And even if they were, it would be language we taught them.

Humans smarted their way into a surplus of food, which allowed us to do lots of other cool things like have time for art, language, and spending years and years raising our young.

That doesn't mean we are inherently superior, it just means an excess of food allows plenty of time to do non-food related things.

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3. vinceguidry ◴[12 Apr 25 16:25 UTC] No.43665774[source]▶
It's been awhile since I read the book, but I do seem to remember them discussing crows specifically.