Latest news with #MélissaBerthet
Yahoo
03-04-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Chimp relatives use humanlike grammar, study finds
Humans are not the only species to combine concepts to build more complex meaning, a new study found. Bonobo chimpanzees combine calls in a manner similar to how humans structure words to make phrases and sentences, according to findings published on Thursday in the journal Science. The pygmy chimpanzees 'seem to combine calls to convey meaning that cannot be conveyed through single calls alone,' the researchers wrote. Because the genetic lines of humans and bonobos diverged more than 7 million years ago, the research suggests the roots of complex language go far deeper than had been previously believed. It follows other surprising findings of humanlike behavior in apes and monkeys, like the previous findings that uncovered the building blocks of human language in chimpanzee calls; strong similarities between basic jokes in humans and other primates; and monkeys using simple stone tools. Thursday's findings also suggest that the ability to combine sounds in 'complex ways is not as unique to humans as we once thought,' Mélissa Berthet, an evolutionary anthropologist at the University of Zurich, said in a statement. To arrive at this finding, Berthet and other researchers first built a comprehensive 'dictionary' of bonobo calls. That achievement marked 'the first time that we have determined the meaning of calls across the whole vocal repertoire of an animal,' Berthet added. This allowed the scientists to study whether bonobo communication — the use of words like 'grammar' or 'language' is controversial when applied to non-human species — had a key feature of human language: an ability to create meaning from smaller components that is greater than the sum of its parts. In its most 'trivial' form, that looks like a compound word, where the concepts are independent of each other and combine to make a short list: a 'French cheese' is both cheese and French; a 'tall man' is both tall and a man, and neither quality influences the other. But in more complicated forms, the meaning is greater than the sum of their parts. For example, a 'cold war' is neither cold nor a war, but something more complex. The concept had never been found in nonhuman species — until now. Researchers unveiled distinct vocalizations could combine to create greater meaning than either alone. A high-pitched hoot, for example, seems to mean, 'Pay attention to me,' while a low-pitched one signifies, 'I am excited or worried.' Put together — often by a speaker facing another bonobo who is threatening them — high or low hoot combination seems to mean something like 'Come help quick!' Similarly, the attention-seeking high hoot can combine with a high-pitched yelp — 'Join me over here!' — to convey that a party of bonobos is about to set off for travel. The researchers also note that communication in great apes may be even more complex, because different call combinations are also often happening in context of different gestures — another key component of communication in primates and humans alike. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
The Hill
03-04-2025
- Science
- The Hill
Chimp relatives use humanlike grammar, study finds
Humans are not the only species to combine concepts to build more complex meaning, a new study found. Bonobo chimpanzees combine calls in a manner similar to how humans structure words to make phrases and sentences, according to findings published on Thursday in the journal Science. The pygmy chimpanzees 'seem to combine calls to convey meaning that cannot be conveyed through single calls alone,' the researchers wrote. Because the genetic lines of humans and bonobos diverged more than 7 million years ago, the research suggests the roots of complex language go far deeper than had been previously believed. It follows other surprising findings of humanlike behavior in apes and monkeys, like the previous findings that uncovered the building blocks of human language in chimpanzee calls; strong similarities between basic jokes in humans and other primates; and monkeys using simple stone tools. Thursday's findings also suggest that the ability to combine sounds in 'complex ways is not as unique to humans as we once thought,' Mélissa Berthet, an evolutionary anthropologist at the University of Zurich, said in a statement. To arrive at this finding, Berthet and other researchers first built a comprehensive 'dictionary' of bonobo calls. That achievement marked 'the first time that we have determined the meaning of calls across the whole vocal repertoire of an animal,' Berthet added. This allowed the scientists to study whether bonobo communication — the use of words like 'grammar' or 'language' is controversial when applied to non-human species — had a key feature of human language: an ability to create meaning from smaller components that is greater than the sum of its parts. In its most 'trivial' form, that looks like a compound word, where the concepts are independent of each other and combine to make a short list: a 'French cheese' is both cheese and French; a 'tall man' is both tall and a man, and neither quality influences the other. But in more complicated forms, the meaning is greater than the sum of their parts. For example, a 'cold war' is neither cold nor a war, but something more complex. The concept had never been found in non-human species — until now. Researchers unveiled that distinct vocalizations could combine to create greater meaning than either alone. A high-pitched hoot, for example, seems to mean: 'Pay attention to me,' while a low-pitched one signifies 'I am excited or worried.' Put together — often by a speaker facing another bonobo who is threatening them — high or low hoot combination seems to mean something like 'Come help quick!' Similarly, the attention-seeking high hoot can combine with a high-pitched yelp — 'Join me over here!' — to convey that a party of bonobos is about to set off for travel. The researchers also note that communication in great apes may be even more complex, because different call combinations are also often happening in context of different gestures — another key component of communication in primates and humans alike.
The Guardian
03-04-2025
- Science
- The Guardian
Bonobos may combine words in ways previously thought unique to humans
Bonobos use a combination of calls to encourage peace with their partner during mating rituals, research suggests. The discovery is part of a study that suggests our close evolutionary cousins can string together vocalisations to produce phrases with meanings that go beyond the sum of their parts – something often considered unique to human language. 'Human language is not as unique as we thought,' said Dr Mélissa Berthet, the first author of the research from the University of Zürich. Writing in the journal Science, Berthet and colleagues said that in the human language, words were often combined to produce phrases that either had a meaning that was simply the sum of its parts, or a meaning that was related to, but differed from, those of the constituent words. ''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 thought animals such as birds and chimpanzees were only able to produce the former type of combination, but scientists have found bonobos can create both. The team recorded 700 vocalisations from 30 adult bonobos in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, checking the context of each against a list of 300 possible situations or descriptions. The results reveal bonobos have seven different types of call, used in 19 different combinations. Of these, 15 require further analysis, but four appear to follow the rules of human sentences. Yelps – thought to mean 'let's do that' – followed by grunts – thought to mean 'look at what I am doing', were combined to make 'yelp-grunt', which appeared to mean 'let's do what I'm doing'. The combination, the team said, reflected the sum of its parts and was used by bonobos to encourage others to build their night nests. The other three combinations had a meaning apparently related to, but different from, their constituent calls. For example, the team found a peep – which roughly means 'I would like to …' – followed by a whistle – appeared to mean 'let's stay together' – could be combined to create 'peep-whistle'. This combination was used to smooth over tense social situations, such as during mating or displays of prowess. The team speculated its meaning was akin to 'let's find peace'. The team said the findings in bonobos, together with the previous work in chimps, had implications for the evolution of language in humans, given all three species showed the ability to combine words or vocalisations to create phrases. 'The cognitive building blocks that facilitate this capacity is at least 7m years old,' said Dr Simon Townsend, another author of the research. 'And I think that is a really cool finding.'
