You see a cat chasing a mouse. You probably don’t realize it, but as soon as you catch sight of this scene unfolding, your brain makes a key distinction between the cat and the mouse: It identifies ...

The loss of certain muscles in the human larynx may have helped give our species a voice, a new study suggests. By Oliver Whang Read this sentence aloud, if you’re able. As you do, a cascade of motion ...

Jacob Grimm, best known today as one of the Grimm Brothers of fairy tale fame, was in his own time a commanding figure in linguistics. In 1851, he addressed the Prussian Academy with a speech, “On the ...

Introduction: primatological perspectives on language / Barbara J. King -- Viewed from up close: monkeys, apes, and language-origins theories / Barbara J. King -- Primate social organization, gestural ...

The study of gestural communication in great apes has provided a rich insight into the evolutionary roots of human language. Apes typically employ an extensive repertoire of innate gestures that are ...

It turns out you don’t have to be Jane Goodall to understand apes. Even untrained humans can decipher ape communication, including gestures related to grooming and sex, according to a new study ...

From pointing to animated arm movements and nodding, people regularly employ gestures to accompany and create language. Now, it's been suggested that humans can also understand sign language used by ...

From pointing to animated arm movements and nodding, people regularly employ gestures to accompany and create language. Now, it’s been suggested that humans can also understand sign language used by ...