Table of Contents (click to expand)Communication and talking: what do they mean? Why can’t animals talk? Foxp2: A Fascinating Gene Humans are the only species on this planet that have the ability to “talk”.
So what is the reason other animals don’t have this ability?
In fact, she’s absolutely right.
Why can’t animals talk like us?
A number of films depict or are based on such scenarios, in which animals not only talk to each other, but also to humans.
Or rather, what gives us the opportunity to communicate in this way?
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Communication and talking: what do they mean?
Communication and talking can be quite ambiguous, so let me clarify what I mean.
Every species communicates.
Even single-celled organisms have the ability to communicate.
This communication need not be in the form of the spoken word.
When I say “talk” I am referring to the ability people have to not only say when they are hungry, but also discuss their plans for the upcoming weekend.
A young creature does not need to learn to communicate from its parents.
For example, a cat doesn’t teach her kitten how to purr when she’s happy or how to hiss when she’s angry.
A dog does not need training to wag its tail when happy or to bark.
However, our talking is something we do learn.
We learn different languages from our parents or from other people.
(Photo Credit : Pixnio) Talking is something unique.
Aside from the basic production of the sound, an important part is the meaning behind the word.
The words “dog” or “apple” have no meaning other than that determined by English speakers.
The same sound can have different meanings in different languages; similarly, the same object can have different names in different languages.
My point is that when we talk about talking, it’s about both the production of the sound and the meaning behind it.
Read also: Do animals speak a language that humans don’t understand? Why can’t animals talk?
Now that we’ve broken down or simplified the talking, it will be easier to answer the question above.
When we think about why animals can’t talk, we have to figure out why they can’t perform the two constituent actions at the same time.
The word ‘at the same time’ is essential, as there are animals that are known to perform one of the 2 functions, but that cannot be considered ‘talking’.
For example, parrots can imitate the sounds of humans.
Alternatively, there are animals, such as whales, that teach their young their songs.
However, these have no specific meaning.
Parrots can mimic the sound of humans (Photo credit: Pixabay) In humans, there are a number of reasons that can be attributed to our ability to speak.
For example, it was believed that our predecessors, the apes, could not talk like us because their larynx did not descend as far down as ours.
So it is clear that structure could not play a major role, if at all, in this ability of ours.
This part of the brain is less developed or absent in other animals.
That is why it is said to give us the ability to talk.
There is also the presence of certain pathways that are only found in some animals, including humans.
The other groups of animals said to possess these trails are birds, such as hummingbirds, songbirds and parrots, as well as mammals such as bats and cetaceans.
Foxp2: A Fascinating Gene Another factor that gives us this ability is the FOXP2 gene.
Dysfunctional genes lead to speech and language problems.
Since this gene activates other genes, it is still not clear which gene(s) are responsible for speech and language.
Another theory, presented by Elaine Morgan, says that our ability to talk is also partly due to our evolutionary path.
Through the aquatic ape stage, we learned to consciously control our breathing, which allows us to make the sounds needed to talk.
Whales teach their young their songs (Photo Credit : Wikimedia Commons) There are animals, such as parrots, and even some elephants, that can imitate our words.
However, as we established earlier, these animals do not understand the meaning of these words.
In short, talking is a unique human ability.
From what we know, the only answer I can decipher is that our evolution gave us this ability and therefore played a part in making humans a superior species.
Although other animals show the ability to mimic the sounds we make, or have their own methods of internal communication, no other animals have shown the same ability as humans so far.
But perhaps the real question to ask is how these other animals communicate.
Perhaps a less anthropocentric view will lead us to ask the right questions and find better answers.
Read also: Why can parrots imitate human sounds/words, but not primates?
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References (click to expand)BBC – Earth – Can all animals talk and use language like humans?
– www.bbc.comWhy humans are the only animals that speak – www.findingdulcinea.comWhy don’t animals talk?
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