The Language of Animals

The animal language is a new and improved version of the earliest human language ever, except with less expression and complexity. To this day, humans use various tools to communicate with animals, such as sigh language, plastic tokens, lexigrams and yerkish.

Sign language, most significantly the American Sign Language, is a form of communication that humans have used for centuries. Animals have similar sign languages to express how they feel. In fact, a lot of vocabulary words from the American Sign Language are used to communicate with apes. In order to communicate with apes, sometimes humans use plastic tokens. Apes have the capability to pick out certain tokens with pictures or symbols that communicate what they are trying to express. However, this is done with some prior training; not every ape can simply learn this way of communication.

Lexigrams are symbols that each come with a certain representation, and a lexigram board holds all the symbols on its three panels. Such boards are used specifically for communication with bonobos and chimpanzees. Yerkish is similar, in the sense that it, too, has a keyboard with an artificial language done in symbols. Sometimes, computer keyboards used for convenience since most animals can easily understand how to operate a keyboard.

Great ape language is a language used to speak to various apes, like orangutans, gorillas, and chimpanzees. Jacques Vauclair, Francine Patterson and David Premack are well-known researchers in great ape language.

People have long been questioning the use of this great ape language and whether this language actually helps animals solve their everyday problems. Some wonder if the teaching experiences with an ape can be helpful when trying to teach a human child. This is due to the fact that, even though there are differences between what a human can do and what an animal can do, they may have their similarities, as well. Some believe that the apes do not actually comprehend anything, but merely do what seems right to get a reward. So far, no real correlation has been proven between an ape's actions and certain signs.

A lot of animals have behaviors comparable to our own. They may comprehend a language, use a language to express their feelings and speak through humans this way. It's not only primates that do so; sea animals, like dolphins and seals, often use vocals and sign language, in order to speak to humans.

Some animals, like humans, have their own vocals, even though a lot do not have speech organs or vocal cords. However, animals do not use discrete tones like humans do. Wild apes, for example, make sounds to warn each other of forthcoming danger. Humans tend to use bring subtle units together to create a meaningful word. This cannot be done in the animal world that consists only of sounds or signs. However, researchers claim that animal language has reached specific requirements. Its validity has not yet been confirmed to the status of a real language, though.

Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Animal_language -