Whale song more similar to human language than previously thought – study

Whale song is more similar to human language than previously thought, research has found.

The study, led by the University of St Andrews, revealed a previously undetected “language-like structure” in whale song that was thought to be unique to human language.

This suggests that, like humans, whale song is transmitted “culturally”, meaning that whales learn their communication systems from each other.

Researchers used methods inspired by how babies discover words in speech, and applied them to eight years of humpback whale song data.

All human languages follow a universal pattern where a few words are used very frequently, while most words appear rarely.

This predictability is key to how babies learn language, as they listen to the sequences of sounds in their language and spot moments of surprise.

Sequence

This is a way to break into language, as they start to figure out where the boundaries between words occur.

The research found that whale song also has sequences of sounds where the sounds follow each other in a relatively predictable way.

This had not previously been found in any other non-human animal.

Species

Professor Simon Kirby, from the University of Edinburgh, said: “These findings challenge long-held assumptions about the uniqueness of human language, uncovering deep commonalities between evolutionarily distant species.”

Dr Ellen Garland, who led the research, said: “Revealing this hidden language-like structure in whale song was unexpected, but it strongly suggests this cultural behaviour holds crucial insight into the evolution of complex communication across the animal kingdom.”

The research, which is published in the journal Science, was conducted by linguists, developmental scientists, marine biologists and behavioural ecologists from the University of St Andrews, University of Edinburgh, Hebrew University, IRD New Caledonia, Griffith University and University of Auckland.