Harvard researchers have almost completely deciphered the secret language of primates. It was discovered that orangutans, chimpanzees and some other subspecies use more than a thousand different sounds to communicate – you can understand them and enter into a full-fledged dialogue with the animals.
The work of cataloging sounds took bioacoustics three years. A total of 1,033 different sounds were identified that are used by primates for direct communication.
Bornean orangutans provided the most information. Scientists divided 1033 sound pulses into 46 acoustic dimensions, a kind of modulation-tones. The same ones are used in complex Asian tone languages, such as Mandarin.
When communicating, primates separate “letters” into high-frequency impulses using roars. Sighs transmit low frequencies; all others are considered intermediate signals.
In some cases we literally understood what was going on. For example, one of the orangutans clearly indicated to his troop to move with a series of sighs and roaring sounds, and all its members followed the order, says Catherine Hobaiter, lead author of the study.
At the next stage, scientists plan to compile a real phrasebook, writing down all the “words” known to primates. Researchers believe that in this way it will be possible to enter into a dialogue with animals.