Chimpanzees’ Gestural Communication Follows Same Laws as Human Language: Study

According to a new study, published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B, gestures of chimpanzees follow the same mathematical patterns — known as linguistic laws — as are seen in human language. The investigation of linguistic laws is a cornerstone of quantitative linguistics. In recent years, studies have begun to explore the universality of linguistic laws beyond our own species, and those works have provided important insights into the basic rules of organization underpinning natural information systems.