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 infinite ...

The fossilised bones of our ancestors remain silent. So, how can we possibly imagine what our earliest languages sounded like ...

Language is a defining characteristic of humanity, yet its origins remain a topic of intense debate. Some researchers argue that language emerged in our lineage around 100,000 years ago, while others ...

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 ...

Researchers have found two important building blocks of human speech in wild chimpanzees, one of our closest relatives. A pair of studies finds that chimp communication includes both rhythmic ...

Humans' unique language capacity was present at least 135,000 years ago, according to a survey of genomic evidence. As such, language might have entered social use 100,000 years ago. It is a deep ...

An international team proposes replacing Hockett’s feature checklist with a model of language as a dynamic, multimodal, and socially evolving system.

Chimpanzees Asanti and Akuna vocalising. A new study shows that wild chimpanzees use a variety of call combinations to expand messaging. Humans are the only species on earth known to use language.

For more than 150 years ago, the assumption that language is a singular event has hampered progress in explaining its evolution. Another obstacle was the failure to recognize that certain social ...