Abstract
Humans have always been intrigued by the idea of talking with animals. With Darwinian evolution it became evident that there is no gulf between humans and other animals. Consequently, it seemed logical to assume that some animals may also possess linguistic skills. Since the 1960s, several animals have learned to sign or communicate with an artificial language, demonstrating the continuity between humans and non-human animals. Washoe, Sarah, Kanzi, Nim Chimpsky, Koko, and Chantek are just a few of the most famous ‘talking’ apes.
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Notes
- 1.
Fouts, R.; Mills, S. T. (2003): Next of Kin: My Conversations with Chimpanzees. Harper, New York, p. 204.
- 2.
Fouts, R.; Mills, S. T. (2003): Next of Kin: My Conversations with Chimpanzees. Harper, New York, p. 364.
- 3.
Fouts, R.; Mills, S. T. (2003): Next of Kin: My Conversations with Chimpanzees. Harper, New York, p. 344.
Worth Reading
Fouts, R., & Mills, S. T. (2003). Next of kin: My conversations with chimpanzees. New York: Harper.
Hess, E. (2008). Nim Chimpsky: The chimp who would be human. New York: Bantam Books.
Patterson, F., & Linden, E. (1981). The education of Koko. New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston.
Premack, D., & Premack, A. J. (1983). The mind of an ape. New York: Norton.
Savage-Rumbaugh, S., & Lewin, R. (1994). Kanzi: The ape at the brink of the human mind. New York: Wiley.
Worth Browsing
Worth Watching
Kanzi: An Ape of Genius (1993)
Project Nim (2011)
Koko, the Gorilla who Talks (2016)
A Conversation with Koko (1999)
My Wild Affair – The Ape Who Went to College (2013)
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Erdős, L. (2019). Talking Apes – Ambassadors of the Animal Kingdom in the Human World. In: Green Heroes. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-31806-2_13
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-31806-2_13
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