News Animals Chimp chatter is a lot more like human language than previously thought By combining different sounds, the apes unlock sophisticated communication abilities A female wild chimpanzee (shown) uses vocal communication. The apes combine single sounds to create phrases with new meanings, much like in human language, a new study finds. Liran Samuni/ Taï Chimpanzee Project By Jake Buehler 3 hours ago Grunts, barks, screams and pants ring through Taï National Park in Cȏte d’Ivoire. Chimpanzees there combine these different calls like linguistic Legos to relay complex meanings when communicating, researchers report May 9 in Science Advances. Chimps can combine and flexibly rearrange pairs of sounds to convey different ideas or meanings, an ability that investigators have not documented in other nonhuman animals. This system may represent a key evolutionary transition between vocal communication strategies of other animals and the syntax rules that structure human languages. Sign up for our newsletter We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.