Until “here, research had shown that this childish language, or” baby talk “, promotes learning vocabulary and linguistic skills. But its evolutionary origins remained mysterious. To find out more, a team of biologists and linguists from the University of Zurich and the University of Neuchâtel has teamed up with French, German and American colleagues. (humans, bonobos, chimpanzees, gorillas and orangutans) to observe their way of communicating with their young in their natural environment.
Humans are massively distinguished by their use of “baby talk”, unlike their primate cousins. “”We were surprised by the little communication of this type observed in our closest living parents“, says Franziska Wegdell, postdoctoral researcher at the University of Zurich and co -authority of the study, in a press release.
Therefore, a question arises: how do young great apes learn to communicate? Researchers think that the answer lies in indirect listening. In humans, infants acquire new words simply by listening to the conversations around them. The team therefore compared this “surrounding communication” in the five species studied and discovered that all are exposed there in a similar way, except the Orangs-Outans. It could therefore be that, like humans, large apes acquire certain aspects of their communication system in a social manner, but based on surrounding communication rather than direct exchanges.
However, this study has limits. The researchers focused solely on vocal communication, while large apes also communicate in gestures with their young. “”We know that some of these gestures even have characteristics found in human communication directed towards the child“, Specifies Caroline Fryns, researcher at the University of Neuchâtel and co -author of the study.
Understanding the evolution of language requires studying our closest living parents, because language does not fossilize. This study reveals that the “baby talk” has particularly developed in humans, even if other species-monkeys, bats, cats or dolphins-also communicate with their young. A specificity that could explain, in part, why humans excel in the art of speech.