Didier Demolin (Université Sorbonne nouvelle, CNRS & Rhodes University Makhanda) & Francisco Mendes (Federal University of Brasilia) – “Acoustic features and grammatical structures of Muriqui vocalizations”

Vocal communication of the Muriqui

Abstract:
What can we learn from animal communication, if we set this issue in terms of evolution? Comparisons with animal communication lead to a better understanding of some of the principles underlying human languages. Muriqui (Brachyteles hypoxantus) show that the acoustics of their vocalizations are generated from a set limited features in addition to showing non-linear characters in their voice source. A close examination of the communication system of the muriqui also shows that the recombination of discrete elements in part of their vocal communication shows both recursion and grammatical structure.