Polly wants a cracker and Koko the gorilla can use sign language. Do non-human animals have language too?

Someone contacted me recently and asked if I was “interested in Flying Fox language”. Of course, he meant “vocalizations” rather than “language” as spoken and understood by humans. Homo sapiens are the only species with the capacity for language.

Animal communication is probably a better term than “language”. Ants, elephants, bees and lions have unique ways of communicating. Dolphins share clicks and whistles, and non-vocal behavior such as flips. Vervet monkeys have a set of alarm calls; these are distinctive sounds that notify other vervets of approaching predators in the sky or on the ground, such as snakes and eagles. Humpback whales feeding calls and courtship rituals are communicated through “song”. Other animals communicate via facial movements, body movements or scent.

Are these forms of communication on their way to becoming languages? Not really. The repertoire of animal communication is comparatively small, and is usually limited to simple messages about basic needs. Conversely, human language can be expanded to cope with new and complex concepts, such as Skinny Caramel Macchiatos and bukkake (you know, those Japanese noodles).

What about Koko the gorilla who can understand sign language and spoken language? Incredibly, she can understand some 2000 words of English. In comparison, a child of age 3 has a larger vocabulary. Koko is a special case, and has been the subject of a research project for about 40 years.

What about animals that can “talk”? Lolita the parrot on You Tube can sing “Let the Bodies Hit the Floor”, but this is only mimicry. Parrots can imitate speech but they don’t have speech. However, an African Grey Parrot called Alex was taught how to form simple sentences. This is amazing, but like Koko, this involves many years of research and training. Unlike humans, parrots don’t acquire language skills as part of development.

Similarly, your pet dog can sit and beg and bark and play dead…when taught to do so. Dogs can be trained to understand simple commands, but “Man’s Best Friend” is hardly the best conversationalist. A dog can show that it hates the food you bought by snubbing it, but Fido can’t say precisely, “I prefer the “Purina Moist & Meaty” you used to buy instead of that nasty “Eukanuba Weight Control Dog Food”.

Most importantly, animal communication is not symbolic. Human language is differentiated from animal communication by the complex system of arbitrary symbols we use; the sentences, words, letters and sounds we have created to represent meaning.