Words matter: Reflections on language projects with chimpanzees and their implications

Area of Science:

• Primate cognition and communication
• Comparative psychology
• Linguistics

Background:

• Systematic research into great ape language acquisition began in the 1960s.
• Studies showed apes could learn sign language or artificial languages, sparking debate.
• Critiques, such as those by Terrace (2019), question ape linguistic capabilities.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review evidence regarding great ape language and symbol use.
• To address critiques questioning apes' understanding and use of words.
• To evaluate the capacities of chimpanzees and bonobos in language acquisition.

Main Methods:

• Review of decades of research on great ape language studies.
• Focus on symbol use in chimpanzees and bonobos.
• Analysis of evidence for declarative communication and intersubjectivity.

Main Results:

• Apes exhibit remarkable capacities to learn and utilize elements of human-devised languages.
• Evidence supports ape understanding of words, including declarative communication.
• Findings indicate the presence of intersubjectivity in chimpanzee and bonobo symbol use.

Conclusions:

• Decades of research challenge the absolute view that great apes cannot learn language.
• Chimpanzees and bonobos demonstrate abilities that argue for word understanding.
• The findings question the limitations previously ascribed to ape linguistic and cognitive skills.