Humans Are the Only Species With Complex Language, Researchers Say — And Here’s What Stopped Other Animals From Developing It

Humans are not the only species that can communicate at a high level. Primates like bonobos and chimpanzees can use sign language with their hands. Dolphins and whales communicate by sound patterns during echolocation and social interactions. Elephants use low-frequency rumbles that are inaudible to human ears.

However, research shows that our communication style is unique, and that is because of the complexity of our language. Yes, other species could communicate in their own ways, but there’s no other that has developed a complex language like humans have. So, what really makes our language different, and what stopped other animals from developing them? Let’s explore this idea in this article.

What Makes Human Language Different?

Human language is special because of a number of factors that make it unique compared to other animals’ ways of communication. First is our use of grammar and syntax. The human language has a hierarchical structure that could dictate the order of words and their relationships, called syntax.

Next is grammar, where we don’t just combine words randomly, but we arrange them based on principles and rules that are structured to make the combination take a unique meaning. It allows us to make an almost infinite number of sentences.

Another is an idea called displacement, which refers to human language’s ability to communicate about the things that are not in the present, like the past or the future. It could also be about hypothetical situations and completely new or abstract ideas.

Additionally, most animals have a set number of calls, but humans can combine words built from small sounds or symbols to create a whole new set of meanings. There’s also a certain arbitrariness to our words, where the word itself has no connection to its meanings, yet we have connected them.

In other words, all these features in our language combine to create a system of communication far more complex than anything that we have observed in the animal kingdom.

Read more: ArXiv | Wikipedia

Animal Communication Is Powerful—but Not Language

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Language is not only about speaking words, because if it were, then parrots or other animals that could mimic our language would be considered to have as complex a communication system as ours. However, language needs to have meaning and be understood. Otherwise, it is really not communication; it’s just random sounds, just as is the case for these mimickers.

Lots of other animals could talk too in their own ways, but it is very simple and subtle compared to ours. Bees could dance to show where their food sources are, called the waggle dance. Whales sing songs using clicks, pulsed calls, and whistles, for a variety of meanings. Monkeys make alarm calls using sound or sign language using their hands.

Individually, these are important signals that could successfully communicate their meaning to one another and be understood. However, they can’t combine them like human does to create a new message, or they do not have the same amount of factors that make them unique or as complex, like our syntax, grammar, displacement, duality of meanings, and arbitrariness.

What Keeps Animals From Developing Language?

Some animals in nature have parts of their brains that are similar to ours. But, ultimately, they lack the specific neural architecture that allows us to use the combinatorial aspect of our language, where we mesh words to make new meanings or sentences. This is a rare ability in nature that only the most sophisticated species are thought to have.

Most animal species also do not possess the ability or the vocal apparatus to make specialized sounds, as one would need to produce a wide range of distinct and unique sounds in order to create a complex language. This is why some of the animals that are suspected to come close to our language complexities all have the brains and the vocal apparatus needed, like chimpanzees, dolphins, and whales.

However, another reason could be our unique evolutionary path that required a sophisticated communication system in order to survive. Humans are very social creatures and could be categorized as hypersocial. Our ancestors lived in large groups and hunted animals twice their size by cooperating with one another.

This phenomenon is thought to have created a feedback loop where cooperation was needed to successfully hunt down animals that are much bigger or stronger than humans. Then, in turn, resulted in even greater numbers in a group, which led us to develop the human language even further to coordinate and strategize properly.

Read more: ArXiv

Human Language—A Rare Gift

Human language as animal communication – Can Animals Grammar? #7

So, how and why did humans develop their language to be as complex as it is? The answer is again a combination of different factors that made us humans and unique as a species, not just in our language.

First, there is our special brain writing that helps us talk, communicate, and understand one another. Then we have developed a culture that lets us build and hone our language abilities through sharing ideas, stories, and passing all the information to the next generation for them to improve upon.

Lastly, is our inherent nature to be social, because as a species, we are not the fastest, the strongest, the biggest, or the tallest, but we have one another. We cooperated and strategized as a group, which just furthers our use of the human language and its complexities.

Human language evolved as a rare solution and survival strategy for our species. Other animals did have their own ways of successfully communicating with each other, but they did not need the infinite creativity and combinatorial features of human speech.

Author's Final Thoughts

Researchers have agreed that the human language is uniquely complex, with grammar, syntax, creativity, and arbitrariness that no other species could match. Animals may communicate well, as they can also signal emotions, danger, and various meanings. But the human language is far more complex, with a lot more functionalities and capacity to build new meanings than anything we have observed in nature.

Read next: Scientists Say Evolution Is Real — But Here’s Why Apes in Zoos Haven’t Turned Into Humans

References & Further Reading

Cartmill, E. A. (2023). Overcoming bias in the comparison of human language. PNAS. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2218799120

Fitch, W. T. (2019). Animal cognition and the evolution of human language. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6895558/

Pagel, M. (2017). Q&A: What is human language, when did it evolve and why should we care? BMC Biology. https://bmcbiol.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12915-017-0405-3

Zuberbühler, K. (2019). Syntax and compositionality in animal communication. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6895557/

Fitch, W. T. (2018). What animals can teach us about human language. Trends in Cognitive Sciences. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352154617301262