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 ...

Humans speak more than 7,000 languages today. As different as they all seem, researchers argue in a new review that they all stem from a single linguistic family tree that emerged before our species ...

Humans are the only species on Earth known to use language. They do this by combining sounds into words and words into sentences, creating infinite meanings. This process is based on linguistic rules ...

The mechanisms behind the development of human language are one of the great mysteries of primate evolution. Biologists have identified certain genes that play a role in human speech and are ...

For all the world’s linguistic diversity, human languages still obey certain universal patterns. These run deeper than grammar and syntax; they’re rooted in statistical laws that predict how ...

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.