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Great ape language
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=== Koko === {{main|Koko (gorilla)}} In 1972, [[Francine Patterson|Francine "Penny" Patterson]], inspired by a lecture she attended by Allen and [[Beatrix Tugendhut Gardner|Beatrix Gardner]],<ref>Patterson and Linden (1981) p.7</ref> began a program to teach sign language to a lowlands gorilla named Koko. Unlike the Gardners, she did not limit her English speech around Koko. Koko mastered approximately 1,000 signs<ref>{{Cite journal |date=June 29, 2018 |title=News at a glance |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/26498408 |journal=Science |volume=360 |issue=6396 |pages=1380β1382|jstor=26498408 |last1=Servick |first1=Kelly |doi=10.1126/science.360.6396.1380 |pmid=29954956 |bibcode=2018Sci...360.1380. |url-access=subscription }}</ref> before her death in 2018. But her well-publicized achievements ignited significant controversy among scientists, who questioned whether she was truly using a "language"<ref>{{Cite news |last=Pullum |first=Geoffrey K. |date=June 27, 2018 |title=Koko Is Dead, but the Myth of Her Linguistic Skills Lives On |url=https://www.chronicle.com/blogs/linguafranca/koko-is-dead-but-the-myth-of-her-linguistic-skills-lives-on |archive-url=https://archive.today/20231211182257/https://www.chronicle.com/blogs/linguafranca/koko-is-dead-but-the-myth-of-her-linguistic-skills-lives-on#selection-2503.139-2511.208 |archive-date=December 11, 2023 |work=Chronicle.com}}</ref> or simply responding to Patterson's prompts. It is generally accepted that Koko did not demonstrate the use of [[syntax]] or [[grammar]], key characteristics of language.
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