The Origins of Human Language: New Insights from Ape Calls

Human language is often seen as a unique gift, allowing us to combine sounds into words and words into sentences to express endless meanings. However, recent research shows that our closest living relatives, chimpanzees, also use complex vocal combinations that expand the meanings they convey-offering new insights into the evolutionary roots of language.

Chimpanzees’ Complex Call Combinations

Wild chimpanzees in Ivory Coast’s Taï National Park produce a rich variety of vocalizations-such as grunts, hoots, and screams-that they combine in flexible ways to communicate. Researchers recorded thousands of these calls across multiple groups and discovered that chimpanzees use at least four distinct methods to change meaning when combining two calls. These include compositional combinations where meanings add up, clarifying combinations that resolve ambiguity, and non-compositional “idiomatic” sequences that create entirely new meanings unrelated to the individual calls alone[1][4].

For example, a sequence combining a “hoo” call with a “pant” call signals the chimpanzee is making a nest in a tree, a meaning that neither call conveys by itself[4]. Such vocal creativity is used across various social and environmental contexts, not just alarm situations, revealing a communication system far more versatile than previously understood.

How Human Language Compares

Humans uniquely use language by combining sounds into words and structuring words into sentences according to syntax-the rules governing word order and meaning. For instance, the word “ape” can form simple descriptive phrases like “big ape,” straightforward sentences like “the ape eats,” or idiomatic expressions like “go ape,” where the meaning is not directly linked to the individual words. The order of words is crucial-“go ape” and “ape goes” mean very different things-highlighting the importance of syntax in human language[5].

Tracing Language Origins Through Primate Communication

Scientists have long sought to understand how human language evolved by studying animal communication, especially in primates. Most animal calls are single, fixed signals, often limited to specific contexts like predator alerts. Until recently, it was thought that such systems were too simple to be precursors to human language.

However, the discovery that chimpanzees combine calls in multiple ways to create new meanings challenges this assumption. It suggests that the common ancestor of humans, chimpanzees, and bonobos may have already possessed the capacity for combinatorial vocal communication[3][5]. This foundational ability could have set the stage for the explosion of linguistic complexity seen in humans.

The Research Behind the Findings

A collaborative team from the Max Planck Institutes in Germany and research centers in France recorded over 4,800 vocalizations from three wild chimpanzee groups over several years[1][6]. They identified 16 distinct two-call sequences (“bigrams”) and analyzed their meanings by correlating vocal patterns with observed behaviors. This rigorous fieldwork revealed that chimpanzees do not simply string calls together; they manipulate combinations in ways that parallel key linguistic features like compositionality and idiomatic expressions[1][4].

These findings overturn the long-held belief that great ape vocalizations are fixed and emotionally driven. Instead, chimpanzees display intentional, flexible communication capable of conveying complex social information, a major step toward understanding the evolutionary roots of human language[5].

Why This Matters

This research reshapes how we view animal communication and the origins of language. It shows that the ability to combine vocal signals to create new meanings is not unique to humans but shared with our closest relatives. This insight deepens our understanding of language evolution and highlights the cognitive sophistication of chimpanzees.

Moreover, it underscores the importance of preserving wild chimpanzee populations and their habitats, as ongoing field studies are vital for uncovering the full extent of their communicative abilities[5]. Understanding these vocal systems can also inspire advances in linguistics, cognitive science, and artificial intelligence.

In summary, chimpanzees use a complex system of call combinations that parallels fundamental aspects of human language, such as creating new meanings by combining sounds. This discovery offers a crucial evolutionary link, suggesting that the roots of our unique linguistic abilities run deeper than previously thought.

Sources:[1] Girard-Buttoz et al., Science Advances, 2025 – Versatile use of chimpanzee call combinations promotes meaning expansion[3] NBC News, 2025 – Chimpanzees use some features of language to talk to each other[4] Science News, 2025 – Chimp chatter is a lot more like human language than previously thought[5] Bioengineer.org, 2025 – Unraveling the origins of language[6] Max Planck Society, 2025 – Chimpanzees combine calls to form numerous vocal sequences