It is a common question, “Does the language of humans make us different?” While many animals communicate verbally (or non-verbally), only humans have this level of precision and efficiency. Many animals can communicate. The ability of humans to understand the context in which we are situated is what sets us apart from animals. Songbirds use their songs to express themselves verbally. Normally, chirping signals a threat or shows dominance. Kaaing indicates fear. The songs they sing are mostly used to attract mates, although this is not the only use. These songs and calls are instinctively known to them. Bird songs are made up of a single short note. These calls may be an automatic response to dangers such as nesting situations, flocking situations, or other simple situations. In this way, birds are different from humans in that they only communicate a handful of situations. Humans can also speak about empathy and context. This comparison between human and bird language illustrates that language is a very human trait.
Chimps are a great way to learn more about animal communication. Apes are the closest living relatives of humans, and so much research has been carried out on animal communication using apes. Savage-Rumbaugh was one of the most notable researchers who taught “Kanzi” a Bonobo Chimpanzee to sign. Savage-Rumbaugh claimed that Kanzi’s language skills using a 256-symbol keyboard were equivalent to those of a two-and-a-half-year-old child’s, but as Zanzi grew, his linguistic abilities did not increase significantly, whereas a human child’s linguistic ability would grow rapidly with age. This evidence indicates that a primat can only learn a limited amount of language. Savage Rumbaugh says, “These and other apes-language experiments challenge the mythology that humans are unique. It is possible that apes are capable of learning language. We once believed this ability was innate to humans. The passage indicates that humans are the only ones who can tell other people what they think, because apes brian didn’t get better over time. Broca’s is an area in the brain that has evolved to help humans understand language. However, in other species, these areas control movements such as non-verbal and arm movements.
Our language is efficient and precise, which makes us different. Other animals are able to communicate, but not in the same way. Human language has the largest vocabulary and has developed over time. It is not something that is instinctual. Language makes humans different. Although all animals are capable of communicating, none has a specific language. It is instinctive for them to communicate, but not ours. There are more than one hundred languages in the world (even though some are extinct). We can also give items a symbolic value that animals cannot. You can think of a wedding-ring as an example. Humans are also able to innovate and use collective knowledge. The generations following inherited the knowledge discovered by the neanderthals while they hunted, cut meat from the bones using sharp tools made of stone. Speech evolved because Homo Sapiens needed to communicate with each other around fires in the past. Anthropologists & archeologists have pieced together the history of how speech evolved: from grunts used for teamwork during hunting to more complex languages based upon necessity and the environment. It was this that allowed humans to advance faster than other organisms into the wilderness.
