Monkeys not only have oral communication , but distinct local dialects . enquiry into the variations could throw light on both our own linguistics and the way our fellow order Primates think .
Likeother social species , Campbell ’s monkeys ( Cercopithecus campbelli ) have warning calls to alarm fellow extremity of their troupe to danger . recording in the Tai Forestof the Ivory Coast show that the monkeys there practice a sound we might save askrakto discourage of the presence of a Panthera pardus , whilehokreferred to an eagle . They also use the suffixooto indicate a more pocket-sized scourge , sokrak - oomean something to keep an middle on below , whilehok - oowarns of minor peril above , such as falling branches .
However , when the scalawag of Tiwai Island , Sierra Leone , were studied it was found that the same sound had different meanings . “ On the island , in an eagle situation , you did find a slew ofhokbut you also found a lot ofkrak , ” Phillipe Schlenker of the French National Center for Scientific Research toldScientific American . “ That was surprising becausekrakis supposed to be a leopard alarm system call . ”
The clue to this difference is that Tiwai has no Panthera pardus . Publishing inLinguistics and PhilosophySchlenker and co-worker conclude that without the menace from below , krak “ role … as a general alarm call on Tiwai ”
It should n’t surprise us that monkeys utilize calls differently depending on geography . Britain and America are “ two countries separate by a vulgar linguistic process . ” Even in one country the same word can havelocalised meaning .
Another facial expression of human communication Schlenker put to habituate to explain the mystery is the way we prefer the particular to the full general . “ Words compete with each other , ” Schlenker say . “ And you utilise the more informative one . ”
come across monkeys as unsophisticated creatures can blind us to the fact that they are very well conform to their surroundings , include in finding words that maximizes survival of the fittest . “ The important affair is that in this situation , bothkrak - ooandhokare more informative thankrak , ” Schlenker says . “ By logic , if you hearkrakyou can deduct there was a reasonkrak - ooand hok were not uttered , so you deduce the negation . ”
Faced with multiple scourge it is important for the rascal of the Tai to be specific , using krak only when it refers to leopards . But when there is only one major predator to worry about it does n’t count whether the Tawai imp say krak or hok , as either will monish of an bird of Jove fire .
Reportedly , this is the first newspaper release by a professional linguist on wild monkey vocalizations , and Schlenker hope for a “ primate philology ” .
To ensure they knew what threat the monkeys were concern to , primatologists collaborating with Schlenker range naturalistic model of leopards where the rapscallion would see them , and played eagle calls before record the monkeys ' responses . “ If you yourself are the trigger , ” Schlenker says , “ You have much better mastery over what causes each calling sequence in the first place . ”
