Are Animals capable of language?

Evidence has shown that animals are capable of being conscious, experience emotions, show comprehension, and they are capable of communication. Apes, elephants, and dolphins have shown self-awareness recognizing themselves in mirrors. Elephants can learn, remember, empathize, teach, cooperate, discriminate smells, and use tools. Chimpanzees, like humans, have shown altruism, as well as group aggression killing others for territory, just like humans, and they can also grieve for dead relatives or loved ones, recognize other’s emotional states, and pass knowledge to future generations. Pigeons can note differences between words and nonwords. Some monkey species have many alarm cries to alert others of possible predators, they can combine 6 different calls into a 25-call sequence. Several other studies have shown that monkeys can also learn sign language and form creative sentences using it. Also, baboons have been shown to distinguish the voices of other members of their groups. So yes, animals are indeed capable of communicating, however, at the most basic of levels.

These studies have made psychologists and people better appreciate animals and their remarkable abilities. People used to doubt that animals could form concepts, use tools, count, have insights, or even show compassion. Now, we know all of those things are true for animals. We are now able to recognize their abilities and amazingness, for these reasons, we ought to protect them and fight for their moral rights. Animals deserve much more recognition than what they are given, for their similarities and distinctions from ourselves, for the knowledge we have gotten from them, and for them serving us as a vivid example of the most basic yet creative forms of language, that help us understand the basis of our own languages, where they came from and why are they so similar around the globe.