The society has been eager to understand who apes communicate amongst themselves and how human beings can talk to them as well. Extensive research has been done concerning the non-human Great Ape language, and the findings show that there is a sophisticated communication that supports their interaction. The chimpanzees and gorillas were trained by a specialist on how to use the sign language to communicate and similarly meanings have been given to every step to enhance the two-way communication. Other signs of contact include operating keyboards containing symbols commonly identified as lexigrams (Byrne, 2017). Alternatively, the apes can arrange physical tokens in various patterns to pass information. According to the researcher's analysis, the reliable information is often conveyed by observing the signs used. However, some of the anthropologists have argued on whether the signs should be considered as a language or not. The Great Ape language is supported because the non-human primates do not have vocal cords that would help their communication. As a result, the use of computer keyboards and sign language has been considered to be the most robust primate language. The paper explores the Great Ape language and how the apes and humans understand each other.
In most scenarios, the human nature records the behaviors of the non-human animals for them to understand the reason for their actions. Through the analysis, scholars have been able to identify the patterns of signs that the animals use to communicate. The language research was done to help the anthropologist to understand how animals can solve their problems without having a means of language and how better they would with proper language training. Further, scholars aimed at identifying if the animal training can also be applied to human beings among many other reasons. The majority of the theorists argue that primates often use the sign language due to their inability to control their lower jaw and the tongue. After various studies on animal language, the linguistics declared that it is possible for the apes to learn on the different signs that manage their communication with humans. However, the issue is still facing debate on the allegations that some syntax signs can be manipulated (Ellis, 2017).
A study in 1966 of a typical chimpanzee named Washoe was used as a sample for ape language. The ape was only ten months when it was adopted by a husband and wife researchers R. Allen Gardner and Beatrix Gardner who sought to take care of the chimpanzee as a child born under the supervision of deaf parents. In their findings, they stated that the chimpanzees are dependent for two years and at Washoe’s age it was an appropriate stage to learn about language development. During the study, Washoe was under the care of a researcher and an assistant who monitored her actions and communicated using the American Sign Language to avoid unreliable feedback that would emerge using voice. The experience was enjoyable because the researchers and the couple served as Washoe friends and they even played games.
Gardner’s used multiple training methods for language development such as imitation, babbling, and instrumental conditioning. Effectively the chimpanzee learned how to use different vocabularies, differentiation, transfer, and combinations evidence that there was a language begin acquired to facilitate the communication. Despite, the study results the idea of animal language with the sign was objected leading to more research to stabilize the validity of the argument. Another experiment was done by Herbert S. Terrace within 44 months using another chimpanzee named Nim Chimpsky who learned 125 signs within 44 months using the similar procedure (Ensvold, 2017). With more researchers results supporting the animal language the Great Ape language are now being trained to animals and the people to facilitate the communication.
The world acknowledges that human beings are the only primate that can master the speech-language. However, this does not mean that they can’t communicate. They use the sign as a means of even warning each other about approaching danger. Other scholars have investigated if the non-human primates have mastered the Great ape sign language as a communication tool. Some of the apes confirmed to have grasped the language include chantek the first ape to learn communication with humans using signs among the orangutan. Lyn Miles who was a trainer taught the animal the American Sign Language (Massel, 2017). The trainer supported that the animals can be trained and even make jokes through the conversations they had. Other primates include Ai a chimpanzee, Koko a female gorilla in the lowland, Nim Chimpsky a chimpanzee, Sherman and Austin both were monkeys, Kanzi who is a male bonobo, and Sarah the first chimpanzee to demonstrate grammar skills.
The Great ape language has become famous in the world and even used in writing fiction works. An example is the Tarzan books authored by a fantasy writer Edgar Rice Burroughs. The writer invented the Mangani language which has been classified as s fictitious Great ape language. The imagined language formed certain words like “Tarmangani” and “Kreegah” to mean Great White Ape and Beware respectively. Cartoonists also use the words as a means of exploring the Great ape language. Further, in 1980 Congo Michael Crichton in his fictional work of gorilla, he uses the Great ape language to show how the gorilla communicates utilizing the ASL. Other fictional films using the language include X-files, project X, the rise of the Planet of the Apes and many others (Byrne, 2017). Despite the success in the training and understanding of the Great ape language, the research is still subjected to criticisms. Researchers such as Steven Pinker and Noam Chomsky are skeptical about the claims made on the ape language. The skepticism is raised on the argument that the apes and human beings have a different way of learning. The allegations also raise the question whether there are limits or boundaries to determine which signs the apes are aware.
In conclusion, the Great ape language has been extensively applied across the world to enhance the communication of the ape with humans and among themselves. The American Sign Language has been used to train the primates on how to converse due to the positive outcomes of the previous studies. The language is used to help the apes to communicate efficiently and apply better ways of solving their problems. From the research, we identify that there is a lot of evidence that supports the apes can use sounds such as coded instrumentals and signs as a language. They use the animal language to inform each other of a source of food or warn against an approaching predator.
References
Byrne, R. W. (2017). Great ape gestures: intentional communication with a rich set of innate signals. Animal cognition, 20(4), , 755-769.
Ellis, A. W. (2017). The psychology of language and communication. . Routledge.
Ensvold, M. L. (2017). Ape Language. The International Encyclopedia of Primatology.
Massel, Η. Κ. (2017). Learning and Language Acquisition in Primates. . In Nonhuman Primate Models For Human Diseases. CRC Press. , 159-189.
