Discovery of Non-Trivial Compositionality
Researchers found that bonobos can combine vocalizations in complex ways, forming phrases where one sound modifies the meaning of another, showcasing non-trivial compositionality akin to human language.
This ability challenges the belief that non-trivial compositionality is unique to humans, suggesting that the evolutionary building blocks of language may be shared with our closest relatives.
Methodology and Implications
The study involved extensive fieldwork in the , recording over 700 bonobo calls and analyzing their contexts to uncover non-trivial compositional patterns.
These findings offer new insights into the evolutionary origins of language, indicating that the cognitive and communicative capacities facilitating such complexity are at least 7 million years old.