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Compare and contrast Human Language to Nonhuman Primate Vocal Communication

Introduction

This study analyzes the differences and similarities found in the vocal communication of humans and non-human primates. Primates are those mammals that consist of simians and pro-simians. They have arisen from their ancestors that have lived in the tropical forests. There are many primates that have similar characteristics and they have an ability to face and adapt the challenging three dimensional environment (Ghazanfar, 2008, p.457). Humans are considered as one of the kind of primates, therefore they have quite similar ways of communicating with each other. Most of the non-human members of the animal kingdom take help from the musical sounds and expressions for conveying their emotions to one another in a more similar fashion as humans do. Humans also use different ways of communication while share and exchanging their feelings with one another.

Discussion

Production and Perception Mechanism

Whimper, Bark, whine, howl and growl are the few ways of communication that are used by the animals in wild. The flexibility in the vocal production separates the humans not only from the other non-human primates but also from the birds and other mammals. The modifiable call production and rarity of learning in most of the mammals have suggested that critical changes that are found in the mechanisms governing the human phonation occurred relatively in the recent era of the human evolution. It happened just after the divergence of our hominid ancestors from the familiar ancestors of chimpanzees and humans (Cheney, 1985, p.150).

The other clear difference that is found among humans and other species especially primates is the usage of call and perception paints with a more complex picture. The major difference among primates and humans is this that non-human primates have only a small range of aurally fixed vocalizations but the humans have large range of vocalizations. The calls of non-human primates are individually different and each of their call type is unsurprisingly linked to the specific social context. Humans have the ability to link the contexts in a different and creative way as compared to the non-human primates (Hsu, 2005).

The non-human primates are capable of thinking in a similar fashion but their thinking is mainly related to getting food and having sexual satisfaction. They are often found communicating with each other for gaining attention of the other members of the group that something needs to be done. On the other hand, humans have different needs and wants then the non-human primates. They do not only have the need of food and sexual satisfaction but even more than that. The linguistic era occurred when our intimates began to show their tacit knowledge and creative use of their cognitive skills in speaking and other related communication styles. The non-human primates such as apes and monkeys have an ability to smell the tension in the environment, which is an advantage for them, as humans do not have this ability (Lieberman, 1969, p.1185).

Acoustic and Auditory Characteristics

The non-human primates ...