February 26, 2006
New evidence for animal language...
While Mark has been checking out monkey business from the comfort of his top floor suite in Language Log plaza, I just happened to spend a couple of nights with my family at the home of some chimpanzees.
Well, it's not the chimps' home in a human legal sense, but they do live in some beautifully appointed cages on the grounds. The following conversation took place between my wife, Moni, and one of the chimps' owners and carers, Karon. You may or may not take it as a summary of the ongoing (never ending?) animal language debate:
Karon: Some of these chimps can sign.
Moni: Oh really! What do they say?
Karon: I don't know. I don't speak sign language.
Posted by David Beaver at February 26, 2006 01:22 AM