This week I read a few articles which said that chimpanzees can talk, and understand human language. But I don't think so. So I began to read more...
I found many arguments that were for and against the assumption, that the chimpanzees can be taught/ can learn a human language. I read several articles, but there were only a few that really caught my attention. So here is the story, listen...
American scholars believe that there is a similarity in the nervous system between humans and chimpanzees. So they believe that the chimpanzees are, or could be able to talk.
When a human is speaking, his left brain is active. There is a so called “Broca-area” which is more active than any other place in the brain, when somebody is speaking.
A few years ago Scholars have made some research. They tried to teach chimpanzees to talk. Most of the time these animals didn’t really talk. In there communication the gesticulation and the mimic took the biggest part. As the people were watching the brain activity of the animals- when the animals tried to communicate, to speak- they discovered, that the chimpanzees left brain side was active. Exactly on the same place where the human brain gets active, when somebody speaks.
Anyway, the chimpanzees mouth structure is not built for speaking. Their mouth isn’t really capable to perform speaking. That’s why they only use most of the time hand signals, and mimic, and gesticulation. And the most important thing is that they can not learn, or understand the grammar system. They can’t use it. They may understand and learn the signals, and pictures, but they can’t learn or use the grammar. So partly you can teach chimpanzees to talk, they can learn signs and pictures, and understand some of the conversation, but they can not make up a whole sentence, they can’t learn the grammar.
So it is partly true if we say that chimpanzees can be taught/ can learn to speak. Beside these important facts, scholars believe that the chimpanzees and the human beings had common ancestors back in the past, like 5-8 million years ago, in the Pliocene age. But there was a question that rose up.
What if only those chimpanzees were able to speak, that were brought up by humans. Because it is true that they have the brain structure that they need for speaking when they are born, it is already in them, but those chimpanzees, that were brought up by humans, used another kind of communication system then the wild ones. They used signs, and gestures that the wild ones didn’t use. So it could be that only those chimpanzees can communicate, who were brought up in human society.
I find this topic very interesting. How about you?
I found many arguments that were for and against the assumption, that the chimpanzees can be taught/ can learn a human language. I read several articles, but there were only a few that really caught my attention. So here is the story, listen...
American scholars believe that there is a similarity in the nervous system between humans and chimpanzees. So they believe that the chimpanzees are, or could be able to talk.
When a human is speaking, his left brain is active. There is a so called “Broca-area” which is more active than any other place in the brain, when somebody is speaking.
A few years ago Scholars have made some research. They tried to teach chimpanzees to talk. Most of the time these animals didn’t really talk. In there communication the gesticulation and the mimic took the biggest part. As the people were watching the brain activity of the animals- when the animals tried to communicate, to speak- they discovered, that the chimpanzees left brain side was active. Exactly on the same place where the human brain gets active, when somebody speaks.
Anyway, the chimpanzees mouth structure is not built for speaking. Their mouth isn’t really capable to perform speaking. That’s why they only use most of the time hand signals, and mimic, and gesticulation. And the most important thing is that they can not learn, or understand the grammar system. They can’t use it. They may understand and learn the signals, and pictures, but they can’t learn or use the grammar. So partly you can teach chimpanzees to talk, they can learn signs and pictures, and understand some of the conversation, but they can not make up a whole sentence, they can’t learn the grammar.
So it is partly true if we say that chimpanzees can be taught/ can learn to speak. Beside these important facts, scholars believe that the chimpanzees and the human beings had common ancestors back in the past, like 5-8 million years ago, in the Pliocene age. But there was a question that rose up.
What if only those chimpanzees were able to speak, that were brought up by humans. Because it is true that they have the brain structure that they need for speaking when they are born, it is already in them, but those chimpanzees, that were brought up by humans, used another kind of communication system then the wild ones. They used signs, and gestures that the wild ones didn’t use. So it could be that only those chimpanzees can communicate, who were brought up in human society.
I find this topic very interesting. How about you?
Take care
