Editing Great ape language (section)

{{Short description|Efforts to teach nonhuman primates to communicate with humans}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2023}}
[[File:Mein Besuch bei Orang Uthas - Flickr - johannesfrickenstein.jpg|thumb|Facial expressions can be used to convey a message.]]

'''Great ape language''' research historically involved attempts to teach [[chimpanzee]]s, [[bonobo]]s, [[gorillas]], and [[orangutan]]s to communicate using imitative [[human speech]], [[sign language]], physical tokens and computerized [[Yerkish#Lexigram concept|lexigrams]]. These studies were controversial, with debate focused on the definition of language, the welfare of test subjects, and the [[Anthropocentrism|anthropocentric]] nature of this line of inquiry.

The consensus among linguists remains that language is unique to humans.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=McKay |first=Susan |date=Spring 2020 |title=The Marvel of Language: Knowns, Unknowns, and Maybes |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/26977687 |journal=Rocky Mountain Review |volume=74 |issue=1 |pages=49–69 |doi=10.1353/rmr.2020.0002 |jstor=26977687|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

Contemporary research has steered away from attempting to teach apes human language and focuses instead on observing [[ape]]s' intraspecies communication in zoos and natural habitats. This includes gestures, facial expressions, and vocalizations.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Amici |first1=Federica |last2=Liebal |first2=Katja |date=2023-04-01 |title=Testing Hypotheses for the Emergence of Gestural Communication in Great and Small Apes (Pan troglodytes, Pongo abelii, Symphalangus syndactylus) |journal=International Journal of Primatology |language=en |volume=44 |issue=2 |pages=319–340 |doi=10.1007/s10764-022-00342-7 |issn=1573-8604|doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Amici |first1=Federica |last2=Liebal |first2=Katja |date=2022-09-26 |title=The social dynamics of complex gestural communication in great and lesser apes ( Pan troglodytes , Pongo abelii, Symphalangus syndactylus ) |journal=Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences |language=en |volume=377 |issue=1860 |doi=10.1098/rstb.2021.0299 |issn=0962-8436 |pmc=9358312 |pmid=35934967}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Fröhlich |first1=Marlen |last2=Wittig |first2=Roman M. |last3=Pika |first3=Simone |date=2016-05-01 |title=Should I stay or should I go? Initiation of joint travel in mother–infant dyads of two chimpanzee communities in the wild |url=https://doi.org/10.1007/s10071-015-0948-z |journal=Animal Cognition |language=en |volume=19 |issue=3 |pages=483–500 |doi=10.1007/s10071-015-0948-z |issn=1435-9456 |pmc=4824811 |pmid=26833496}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Hobaiter |first1=Catherine |last2=Byrne |first2=Richard W. |date=2011-09-01 |title=The gestural repertoire of the wild chimpanzee |url=https://doi.org/10.1007/s10071-011-0409-2 |journal=Animal Cognition |language=en |volume=14 |issue=5 |pages=745–767 |doi=10.1007/s10071-011-0409-2 |pmid=21533821 |issn=1435-9456|hdl=10023/4445 |s2cid=13793972 |hdl-access=free }}</ref>