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The origins of language

Chimpanzees are capable of complex communication: The human capacity for language may not be as unique as previously thought.

Portrait of Patrick Donnelly
Dating & Family · September 26, 2026
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AI-generated stock-style editorial illustration; not a photograph of the reported event.
AI-generated stock-style editorial illustration; not a photograph of the reported event.

Chimpanzees are capable of complex communication: The human capacity for language may not be as unique as previously thought. Chimpanzees have a complex communication system that allows them to combine calls to create new meanings, similar to human language.

Combining calls creatively: Chimpanzees use four ways to change meaning when combining single calls into two-call combinations, including compositional and non-compositional combinations, and they use a large variety of call combinations in a wide range of contexts. Humans are the only species on earth known to use language.

First reported by ScienceDaily: Relationships.

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