by University of Zurich

https://phys.org/news/2023-05-chimpanzees-combine-communicate.html

A key feature of human language is our ability to combine words into larger compositional phrases, where the meaning of the whole is related to the meaning of the parts. Where this ability came from or how it evolved, however, is less clear.

https://ec89d85cd07f12e333a42b6bf31e08d0.safeframe.googlesyndication.com/safeframe/1-0-40/html/container.html

Chimpanzees, our closest-living relative, are known to produce a number of different vocalizations to manage their social and ecological lives and, under some circumstances, combine these calls into larger sequences. By conducting careful, controlled experiments withwild chimpanzeesin Uganda, researchers from the University of Zurich (UZH) showed that these combinations are understood by chimpanzees.

Chimpanzees react most strongly to call combinations

“Chimpanzees produce ‘alarm-huus’ when surprised and ‘waa-barks’ when potentially recruiting conspecifics during aggression or hunting,” says Maël Leroux, a…