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<blockquote data-quote="Tonguez" data-source="post: 7927939" data-attributes="member: 1125">Human sign language is gestures taught by humans. too, but I take your point that knowing a sign doesnt mean use of language. However the major part of my comment though was on Hominid psychology and the fact that Chimps and other apes can use human-taught sign to express status and opinion, use transference and word combination to create novel sentences, express desire, refer to missing objects, and even make counterfactual statements for deceptive or humorous effect. Also notable is the teaching of sign to other apes and use of metalanguage reinforcement.Anyway most researchers put Ape cognitive ability about on par with a 3 year old human child. What does appear to be missing from ape language (as compared to a human child) however is use of Questions, While they can identify places and things Apes appear to be entirely &quot;self - goal&quot; focussed and have not been documented as asking &quot;who, what or where questions&quot;</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Tonguez, post: 7927939, member: 1125"] Human sign language is gestures taught by humans. too, but I take your point that knowing a sign doesnt mean use of language. However the major part of my comment though was on Hominid psychology and the fact that Chimps and other apes can use human-taught sign to express status and opinion, use transference and word combination to create novel sentences, express desire, refer to missing objects, and even make counterfactual statements for deceptive or humorous effect. Also notable is the teaching of sign to other apes and use of metalanguage reinforcement. Anyway most researchers put Ape cognitive ability about on par with a 3 year old human child. What does appear to be missing from ape language (as compared to a human child) however is use of Questions, While they can identify places and things Apes appear to be entirely "self - goal" focussed and have not been documented as asking "who, what or where questions" [/QUOTE]

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