Primate vocalizations and the origins of human language

We are interested in the cognitive and affective properties of animal vocalizations. In a nutshell, we believe that chimpanzee vocalizations are not purely reflections of the emotional states of the individuals producing them, but rather offer a pathway mixing affect and cognition towards the evolution of human language.

Main papers of interest

Gruber, T. & Zuberbühler, K. (2013) Vocal recruitment for joint travel in wild chimpanzees. PLOS ONE, 8(9): e76073. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0076073

Sievers, C. & Gruber, T. (2016) Reference in humans and non-human primate communication: What does it take to refer? Animal Cognition, 19(4), 759-768. doi: 10.1007/s10071-016-0974-5

Crockford, C. ‡, Gruber, T.‡ & Zuberbühler, K. (2018) Chimpanzee hoo variants differ according to context. Royal Society Open Science, 5: 172066, doi: 10.1098/rsos.172066

Fröhlich, M., Sievers, C., Gruber, T.§, & van Schaik, C. P.§ (2019) Multimodal communication and language origins: integrating gestures and vocalizations. Biological Reviews, doi: 10.1111/brv.12535