There’s a fascinating article about language and why monkeys don’t talk. According to the New York Times:
Monkeys and apes possess many of the faculties that underlie language. They hear and interpret sequences of sounds much like people do. They have good control over their vocal tract and could produce much the same range of sounds as humans. But they cannot bring it all together.
The poor little buggers are locked in. Chimps, for example, could really use language, especially while their planning a coup or other political moves. But they can’t make the jump. It makes you wonder if some day we may be able to help them do so, just as David Brin hypothesized in his Uplift series. Photo by ecmorgan.