A new study challenges the idea that language stems from a single evolutionary root. Instead, it proposes that our ability to communicate evolved through the interaction of biology and culture, and ...

A new framework argues that human language did not arise from a single evolutionary leap but from the convergence of many biological abilities and cultural processes.

Denise Herzing, a dolphin communication expert, told Science News that she objects to the word “vowel” out of concern that ...

Wild chimpanzees alter the meaning of single calls when embedding them into diverse call combinations, mirroring linguistic operations in human language. Human language, however, allows an infinite ...

Researchers have found two important building blocks of human speech in wild chimpanzees, one of our closest relatives. A pair of studies finds that chimp communication includes both rhythmic ...

At the turn of the 20th century, a famous horse named Clever Hans toured Germany. The horse stunned crowds as his trainer demonstrated the animal's alleged ability to understand German, tell time and ...

Birds understand many sounds around them, from mates to alarms, and this hidden skill may hint at how human language first ...

Across the world’s oceans, hydrophones are picking up intricate patterns of clicks, whistles, and pulses that do not map neatly onto any human language. Researchers are now treating these underwater ...

Humans' unique language capacity was present at least 135,000 years ago, according to a survey of genomic evidence. As such, language might have entered social use 100,000 years ago. It is a deep ...

Using sophisticated RNA sequencing technology, biomedical researchers can measure the activity of our genes across millions ...