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New Research Finds: Chimpanzee Gestures Follow the Same Laws as
Human Language |
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|| February 13:
2019 || ά. New
research by the
University of
Roehampton has
shown that
chimpanzees’
gestural
communication
follows the same
mathematical
patterns, known
as, linguistic
laws, as are
seen in human
language,
indicating that
the gestures of
our primate
cousins, may be,
more similar to
our own language
than previously
thought.
The Study,
published today
in Proceedings
of the Royal
Society B, was
led by Masters
student Ms
Raphaela Heesen
and Professor
Stuart Semple
from the
University’s
Department of
Life Sciences.
The researchers
studied videos
of gestures,
made by wild
chimpanzees,
living in
Uganda’s Budongo
Forest Reserve.
They Study
looked at two
particular
linguistic laws:
Zipf’s Law of
abbreviation,
which predicts
that more
commonly used
words tend to be
shorter and
Menzerath’s Law,
which predicts
that larger
linguistic
structures are
made up of
shorter parts,
e.g, longer
words are made
up of shorter
syllables.
While these laws
are known to
hold in many
different
languages, they
had, never,
previously, been
explored in the
gestural
communication of
animals. They
focussed on
gesturing,
during play, as
this is a
context where
they are, most
frequently,
used, both alone
and in
sequences.
They measured
the length of
over 2,000 play
gestures, of 58
different types
and found that,
just as
predicted by the
two linguistic
laws, more
frequently used
gestures were
shorter in
duration and in
longer
sequences, the
average gesture
duration was,
also, shorter.
Ms Raphaela
Heesen, the Lead
Author of the
Study, said,
“Primate
gestural
communication
is, of course,
very different
to human
language but,
our results show
that these two
systems are
underpinned by
the same
mathematical
principles. We
hope that our
work will pave
the way for
similar studies,
to see quite how
widespread these
laws, might be,
across the
animal kingdom.”
About the
University of
Roehampton: The
University of
Roehampton,
London, is an
established
international
higher-education
institution,
providing a
high-quality
learning and
research
experience with
the aim of
developing
personal growth
and driving
social change.
The University
has a proud and
distinguished
history dating
back to the
1840s and it was
one of the first
institutions in
the UK to admit
women to its
colleges of
higher
education. This
tradition of
commitment to
equality
continues to be
part of the
ethos of the
University,
which has one of
the most diverse
and thriving
communities of
students in the
UK; its 9,000
student body
includes
international
students from
over 146
countries.
Today the
University is
renowned for its
broad range of
expertise across
teacher
training,
business, social
sciences, the
arts and
humanities, as
well as, human
and life
sciences, with
world leading
and
internationally
recognised
research in
these
fields.:::ω.
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