Language-Using Apes

J’aime Wells is an ape talking about the possibility of apes talking.

I live a few blocks away from some unusual neighbors: three chimpanzees who fluently use American Sign Language. Their names are Tatu, Dar, and Loulis, and their more famous family member Washoe was the first non-human to acquire a human language. Their home is the Chimpanzee and Human Communication Institute (CHCI), located on the campus of Central Washington University in Ellensburg, Washington. I have been a volunteer docent [public educator] there since 2007.

The language capabilities of non-human apes have been studied in several important projects, with widely different methods.

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