Chimpanzees show the capacity to communicate about concomitant daily life events

• Published in: iScience 2023-11, Vol.26 (11), p.108090, Article 108090
• Main Authors: Bortolato, Tatiana, Friederici, Angela D., Girard-Buttoz, Cédric, Wittig, Roman M., Crockford, Catherine
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: biological sciences; Cognitive Sciences; evolutionary biology; Life Sciences; Neurons and Cognition; zoology
• ISSN: 2589-0042; 2589-0042
• DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2023.108090

One universal feature of human language is its versatility in communicating about juxtapositions of everyday events. Versatile combinatorial systems of communication can be selected for if (a) several vocal units are flexibly combined into numerous and long vocal sequences and (b) vocal sequences relate to numerous daily life events. We propose (b) is more likely during simultaneous or serial (concomitant) events than single events. We analyzed 9,391 vocal utterances across the repertoire of wild chimpanzees and their events of production. Chimpanzees used vocal sequences across a range of daily life events and twice as often during concomitant than single events. Also, utterance diversity correlated positively with event diversity. Our results show the potential of chimpanzee vocal sequences to convey combined information about numerous daily life events, a step from which generalized combinatoriality could have evolved. [Display omitted] •Chimpanzees present key preconditions for the evolution of compound communication•They use sequences across many daily life events, not just in alarm contexts•Utterance length and diversity correlate with concomitant events and their diversity•They have the potential to express concomitant daily events through vocal sequences Biological sciences; Zoology; Evolutionary biology