Table of Contents (click to expand) Communication And Discourse: What Do They Mean? Why Can’t Animals Talk?
So why don’t other animals have this ability?
It is, in fact, that it is right.
Why can’t animals talk like us?
A number of films show or are based on such scenarios, where animals talk not only to each other, but to humans as well.
Or rather, what gives us the ability to communicate in this way?
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Communication and Speaking: What Do They Mean?
Communication and speaking can be very confusing, so let me explain what I mean.
All species speak.
Even single-celled organisms have the ability to communicate.
This communication does not have to be in the form of speech.
When I say ‘talk’, I am referring to the ability of people to not only talk when they are hungry, but also to discuss their plans for the coming weekend.
A young creature does not need to learn how to communicate from its parents.
For example, a cat does not teach its kitten how to bathe when it is happy or smile when it is angry.
A dog does not need training to wag its tail when it is happy, or to bark.
However, our word is something we write.
We learn different languages from our parents, or from other people.
(Photo credit: Pixnio) Speech is unique.
Apart from the basic production of sound, an important component is the meaning behind the word.
The words “dog” or “apple” have no meaning other than the one intended by English speakers.
The same thing can have different meanings in different languages; likewise, the same thing can have different names in different languages.
My point is that when we speak, it is about the production of the sound and the meaning behind it.
Also Read: Do Animals Speak A Language Humans Don’t Understand? Why Can’t Animals Speak?
Now that we have relaxed, or simplified, the act of speaking, it will be easier to answer the above question.
When we think about why animals can’t talk, we need to find out why they can’t perform two actions simultaneously.
The word ‘at the same time’ is important, as there are animals that are known to do either one of the 2 functions, but this cannot be considered “talking”.
For example, parrots can imitate human sounds.
In contrast, there are animals, like whales, that teach their young their songs.
However, these do not have a specific meaning behind them.
Parrots can imitate what humans do (Photo Credit: Pixabay) In humans, there are many reasons why it may be because of our ability to speak.
For example, they believe that the inakis, who preceded us, could not speak like us because their voice boxes did not go down as far as ours.
So, obviously, the system cannot play a significant role, if at all, in this capacity of ours.
This part of the brain is underdeveloped, or absent, in other animals.
Therefore, we say that it gives us the power to speak.
There is also the presence of certain pathways that are found only in some animals, humans among them.
Other groups of animals that are said to have these pathways are birds, such as hummingbirds, songbirds and parrots, and animals such as bats and cetaceans.
Foxp2: A Funny Gene Another thing that gives us this ability is the FOXP2 gene.
Abnormal genes lead to speech and language problems.
Since this gene activates other genes, it is not yet clear which gene(s) is responsible for speech and language.
Another theory, presented by Elaine Morgan, states that our ability to speak is also partly due to our evolutionary path.
Due to the level of aquatic apes, we learned to control our consciousness, which allows us to do the things required for communication.
Whales teach their babies their songs (Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons) There are animals, like parrots, and even some elephants, that can imitate our words.
However, as we have already established, these animals do not understand the meaning of these words.
In short, speaking is a unique ability that humans have.
From what we know, the only answer I can explain is that our evolution has given us this ability, and therefore it has played a role in making humans the superior species.
Although other animals have shown the ability to imitate the sounds we make, or have their own ways of internal communication, until today, no other animals have shown the same ability as humans.
However, perhaps the real question we should be asking is how do other animals communicate.
Perhaps a less anthropocentric view will lead us to asking the right questions and thus finding better answers.
Also Read: Why Parrots Can Imitate Human Voices/Speech, But Primates Can’t?
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References (click to expand)BBC – World – Can an animal speak and use language like a human?
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