Primate Communication

Monkeys and humans have been compared for years, “we have all heard the expression monkey see, monkey do. But should the saying really go monkey hear, monkey do?” (Sakrison) Recent studies are finding that the language abilities of some monkeys are more sophisticated than we ever thought possible (Sakrison). Monkeys often always live together in social groups. And each member contribute by helping to defend their food sources, watch for predators, and even raise each other’s young. Is it impossible to live in a social group without some form of communication Group members need ways to influence and inform each other? This is what drives language. (Sakrison)

Primates have evolved many ways of communicating; these include visual cues, and auditory calls. Visual cues can only work if they can be seen, and in the dense forest and underbrush that most primates live in, auditory cues are a much more useful tool. Calls and vocalizations can also be modified in pitch, loudness, and duration, in which messages, can be transmitted. The basic messages that primates need to successfully live in groups are alarm calls, territorial calls, food calls, personal identification calls, and dominance calls. Some primates have developed more complex and specialized forms of auditory communication (Sakrison). Some have even developed a type of language.

Not any one animal have been known to have all the aspects of human language, but several species have some. Diana monkeys are some of the cleverest monkeys when it comes to language; they have combined calls to make sentence-like messages. This requires a type of grammar. The meaning of the “sentence” depends on what sounds are included and in what order they are in. Added sounds can emit more inform...

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...t forms of communicating with one another in the primate world besides the typical grunting, calls, and facial expressions they communicate very well with each other and while we cannot vocally understand now communication with primates is improving with every passing year. Maybe one-day primates will evolve enough to communicate with us as we do with each other.

Works Cited

Kosseff, Lauren. "Primate Use of Language." Primate Use of Language. N.p., 2008. Web. 1 May 2011. .

Malakoff, David. "A Conversation With Koko." PBS Nature. N.p., 2007. Web. 1 May 2011.

Sakrison, Angela. "Clever Monkeys: Monkeys and Language."PBS Nature. Educational Broadcasting Corporation, 2008. Web. 1 May 2011. .