The closest animal relative of humans, chimpanzees, communicate in a clearly “human” way, scientists have found.
Primates use gestures that follow some of the same rules as basic human language.
One is Zipf’s law of abbreviations, which says that frequently used words are usually shorter, and the other is Menzerat’s law, which stipulates that larger language structures are made up of shorter parts, such as syllables in spoken words. .
Experts made the discovery after studying videos of wild chimpanzees living in the Budongo Forest Reserve in Uganda.
Research shows that chimpanzee gestures are the way monkeys communicate. Primates use gestures that follow some of the same rules inherent in human language, scientists have learned (file photo)
Like other great apes, chimpanzees do not have the ability to speak, but have previously been shown to use meaningful gestures to communicate with each other.
Scientists have made a comparison with deaf people who “sign” each other.
The study found that chimpanzee gestures are supported by linguistic laws that are similar to those observed in human language.
The team at the University of Rohampton focused on two specific rules that are known to apply to all human languages.
The researchers analyzed more than 2,000 of about 58 different types of play gestures used by Budongo forest chimpanzees. They found that more frequently used gestures were shorter in duration and longer signing sequences were composed of shorter gesture “syllables” (stock image)
Lead researcher Rafaela Heisen said: “Primate gesture communication is, of course, very different from human language, but our results show that these two systems are supported by the same mathematical principles.
“We hope that our work will pave the way for such research to see how widespread these laws can be in the animal kingdom.”
In addition to using hand and foot gestures, chimpanzees communicate with sounds, body postures and facial expressions.
A study published last September found that chimpanzees and young children use similar stamping, pointing and cracking tactics to attract attention.
The latest findings appear in the journal Notices of the Royal Society B.