Recent research indicates that wild chimpanzees have established a more nuanced communication system than previously thought, employing various mechanisms that merge vocalizations to convey new meanings.

These aspects of chimpanzee communication are detailed in studies published in Friday Journal Science Advances, resembling some basic elements of human language.

Researchers examined recordings from three groups of chimpanzees residing along ivory shores, revealing that they can combine vocalizations much like humans use idioms and rearrange words to form new phrases.

This study marks the first documentation of such complexity in non-human communication systems, suggesting that chimpanzees’ capabilities reflect an evolutionary turning point between basic animal communication and human language.

“The ability to combine sounds to create new meanings is a hallmark of human language,” stated Catherine Crockford, a researcher at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology and co-director of the Tai Chimpanzee project. “It is crucial to explore whether similar capabilities exist in our closest living relatives, chimpanzees and bonobos.”

Another study published last month provided similar evidence indicating that bonobos can also combine calls to form phrases. Together, these studies imply that both species are evolving fundamental components of human language.

Bonobos and chimpanzees are the species most closely linked to humans in evolutionary history, suggesting all three may have derived from a common ancestor with this capability.

“Our findings indicate a highly generative vocal communication system that is unmatched in the animal kingdom. This aligns with recent discoveries about bonobos and implies that complex combinatorial abilities may have already existed in a common human ancestor.”

Researchers identified these new complexities in chimpanzee vocal systems by tracking specific animals in the field from dawn to dusk for approximately 12 hours daily, capturing the sounds they produced and their interactions with others in the group. They documented over 4,300 vocalizations from 53 wild chimpanzees.

While observing the vocalizations, researchers noted the activities, social interactions, and environmental changes occurring simultaneously, indicating whether the chimpanzees were eating, playing, or encountering predators.

The team performed statistical analyses on particular two-call combinations, such as “bark followed by bark,” recorded across various animals.

Their findings revealed that chimpanzees combine sounds to reference everyday experiences, with combinations that can express a range of meanings.

Simon Townsend, a professor at the University of Zurich who studied primate cognition and contributed to the bonobo study, noted that he wasn’t involved in this particular research.

He suggested that the common evolutionary ancestors of bonobos, humans, and chimpanzees likely possessed this ability.

“This suggests that our linguistic capabilities were already developing about 6-7 million years ago,” Townsend stated, referring to the time when these species likely diverged in the evolutionary tree.

Not all primates showcase such intricate communication. Townsend noted that forest monkeys, with simpler social structures, primarily utilize vocalizations to address predatory threats.

However, he believes that increasingly larger and more intricate social groups—a common trait among great apes and humans—have catalyzed the evolution of more sophisticated communication and ultimately, language.

For bonobos and chimpanzees, “Their biggest challenge is managing their intricate social environment. They exist in larger groups… There are conflicts, reconciliations, territorial disputes, and intergroup interactions. Vocalization is likely one evolutionary response to navigating these complex social dynamics.”

In human language, syntax refers to a set of rules that create a system capable of expressing infinite meanings.

“Syntax pertains to conveying increasingly precise and sophisticated information, which probably becomes necessary as social interactions grow more complex,” Townsend stated.