Ellen Garland received funding from the following grants for this work: Royal Society University Research Fellowship (UF160081 and URF\R\221020), Royal Society Research Fellows Enhancement Award ...

How much does the evolution of human speech owe to one amino acid? The origins of human language remain mysterious. Are we the only animals truly capable of complex speech? Are Homo sapiens the only ...

Humpback whale song is a striking example of a complex, culturally transmitted behavior, but up to now, there was little evidence it has language-like structure. Human language, which is also ...

The animals’ complex songs share structural patterns with human language that may make them easier for whales to learn, a new study suggests. By Emily Anthes The English language is full of wonderful ...

Whale song can be as efficient as – and, in some cases, more efficient than – human communication, according to a new study in Science Advances. Meanwhile, new unrelated research in Science further ...

Language has long been considered a uniquely human trait, with features that mark it out as distinct from the communication of all other species. However, research published in Science has uncovered ...

All human languages follow the same pattern: The most common word is used twice as often as the second most common word, three times as often as the third most common word, four times as often as the ...

All known human languages display a surprising pattern: the most frequent word in a language is twice as frequent as the ...