Well, not really, but he does appear to vocalize certain 'concepts': http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99993218 "A bonobo has surprised his trainers by appearing to make up his own "words". It is the first report of an ape making sounds that seem to hold their meaning across different situations, and the latest challenge to the orthodox view that animals do not have language.
"Kanzi is an adult bonobo kept at Georgia State University in Atlanta. He has grown up in captivity among humans, and is adept at communicating with symbols. He also understands some spoken English, and can respond to phrases such as "go out of the cage" and "do you want a banana?"... "...They identified four sounds that Kanzi made in different contexts - banana, grapes, juice and yes. In each of these contexts, Kanzi made the same sound. "We haven't taught him this," says Taglialatela. "He's doing it on his own..." "...Recently researchers studying Campbell's and Diana monkeys in the Ivory Coast in West Africa found some evidence of syntax in the calls the monkeys made. And Karen Hallberg and Sally Boysen of Ohio State University in Columbus have noticed hints that when chimps see food, they make calls that specify its desirability as high, medium or low, and that other chimps can interpret the sounds..." The Gap Is Wide But Narrowing Maru __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! SiteBuilder - Free, easy-to-use web site design software http://sitebuilder.yahoo.com _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
