Communication and language are important features of humanity. And by far, even though other animals communicate with each other in their own ways, we believe that humans are the only beings with the ability to produce and comprehend language in a sophisticated manner. If you have ever been with a pet before, you might claim that this is not true and that animals do have language. But there is a wide gap between what we see as language and the communication techniques that animals use. When the trainer asks a dog to sit and it immediately does, this is not an example of language comprehension, rather it is a simple association with the sound of speech and the action that was learned.
There are to ways to communicate with animals in an effective way; either we learn their language or we teach them theirs. Both the ways are different in many aspects, but has one thing in common-both methods aren’t easily achieved. But that doesn’t stop us from trying, does it?
There have been studies conducted in order to come up with a shared code to understand the speech of dolphins and other mammals. For this, we have to collect data on the different ways they communicate within their species; the way they growl or howl, the way they turn their head, the way they use the faculty of touch and so on. And then we have to transfer this code into human speech. But still, we are nowhere near to achieving these goals. Their communication is very limited in a lot of ways, with most of them being instinctual. But, with advances in the field, we hope that one day, google translate will come up with ‘dog to English’.
Well, the second way has been proven to be the shorter path. There have been several experiments attempting to teach animals, mostly chimps our language. Obviously, because of the lack of advanced vocal cords and other physical features, animals can't talk to us in English or Chinese or any other spoken language. But, what about ASL (American Sign Language)?
The most famous experiment of its kind was probably that of Koko, the guerrilla. In 1972, a research psychologist by the name of Penny Pattison, who was then a Ph.D. student took up the project to teach sign language to a chimp. What started as a project work later became a long-lasting relationship of over 40 years between Penny and Koko, the guerrilla. The world of linguistics focused their gaze upon the small heritage center in San Fransisco, California. Koko became the cover in almost all nature magazines and came to be known as the talking ape. Penny claimed that Koko had a working vocabulary of more than 450 signs and could understand more than 100 spoken words. There are quite a lot of video clips to prove this point. Maybe this was the point where we came the closest to speaking to an animal. However many linguists were not convinced. Many were of the opinion that these were mere mimicking of body language and doesn’t compare to the conscious and intentional language of humans. But, Koko could identify himself in a mirror (proof of consciousness or self-awareness) and used sign language to himself and with Michael- his neighbor ape. However, the story of Koko couldn’t be completed as she passed away quietly in her sleep in the year 2018.
(Video link to BBC documentary on Koko, the guerrilla; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FqJf1mB5PjQ)
Still, talking to other species we share this world with is not a soon-to-be-achieved goal in the schedule of science. People working in the field hope that we would be able to do this one way to realize that we aren’t that different from them. We might be intellectually superior, but that doesn’t give us any more right to live than them .
