Author:
Ekström Axel G.,Gannon Charlotte,Edlund Jens,Moran Steven,Lameira Adriano R.
Abstract
AbstractNonhuman great apes have been claimed to be unable to learn human words due to a lack of the necessary neural circuitry. We recovered original footage of two enculturated chimpanzees uttering the word “mama” and subjected recordings to phonetic analysis. Our analyses demonstrate that chimpanzees are capable of syllabic production, achieving consonant-to-vowel phonetic contrasts via the simultaneous recruitment and coupling of voice, jaw and lips. In an online experiment, human listeners naive to the recordings’ origins reliably perceived chimpanzee utterances as syllabic utterances, primarily as “ma-ma”, among foil syllables. Our findings demonstrate that in the absence of direct data-driven examination, great ape vocal production capacities have been underestimated. Chimpanzees possess the neural building blocks necessary for speech.
Funder
Schweizerischer Nationalfonds zur Förderung der Wissenschaftlichen Forschung
Vetenskapsrådet
UK Research & Innovation, Future Leaders Fellowship
Royal Institute of Technology
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC