This ability to manipulate meaning through call combinations is a key characteristic of human language. Chimpanzees thus demonstrate cognitive flexibility that brings their communication closer to ...

I said previously that human self-conscious awareness arose as a consequence of two other unique human attributes, our capacity for language and our ability to continually transform the world by ...

Young chimpanzees have a vocal ability that is also seen in human babies—one that is considered to be a key building block in language development—a study has revealed.

NOVA1 may be a bona fide human 'language gene,' though certainly it's only one of many human-specific genetic changes." Robert B. Darnell, head of the Laboratory of Molecular Neuro-Oncology Three ...

All known human languages display a surprising pattern: the most frequent word in a language is twice as frequent as the second most frequent, three times as frequent as the third, and so on. This is ...

Wild chimpanzees alter the meaning of single calls when embedding them into diverse call combinations, mirroring linguistic operations in human language. Human language, however, allows an ...

Tiny filler words in human rapid-fire conversation hold the key to understanding how language is unique, according to a new book. But anthropologist Barbara J. King raises some questions.

A new study suggests that the NOVA1 gene may have been a key player in the evolution of human language. By Carl Zimmer Scientists have long struggled to understand how human language evolved ...

Could chimpanzees hold a key to the evolution of human language? A recent study reveals complex vocal combinations in our closest relatives. Researchers recorded thousands of vocalizations from wild ...