We all have been amused by the parrot repeating what a human says. Everyone knows that they don’t know the meaning of the words they are speaking, hence the phrase “parroting someone”, which means repeating someone mechanically is used. Which brings us to the question: why can’t animals talk? The reason for this is physiological and psychological. Let us unveil some of the mysteries of why animals can’t speak.
Most animals can communicate effectively through gestures and sounds. For instance, when the tiger is coming into the jungle, the monkeys in the trees begin chattering loudly to alert other herbivorous prey such as deer, nilgais, and rabbits. Even single-celled organisms can communicate. Different species communicate through actions, gestures, sounds, dances, or chemicals.
Communication is a built-in mechanism that all creatures are equipped with. That is why a dog doesn’t need to teach its puppies to wag their tail to signify their happiness, nor does a cat need to teach her kittens to hiss when angry. Or, humans need to be taught to howl in pain or laugh when they are amused. We learn to talk as toddlers from our parents, and other humans. We learn to speak their language by observing those in our immediate surroundings.
Humans alone have evolved a complex set of voice, hearing and brain-processing skills that enable sophisticated vocal communication. Animals also make complex sounds, however, they need to have the intelligence for linguistics that humans have. Physiologically speaking, humans possess lips, jaw, tongue, larynx etc. that help us form words. Scientists have found that our ancestors, the apes, couldn’t talk because their larynx hadn’t descended as far down as ours. However, though the young chimpanzees’ larynx has descended, they still can’t talk.
An additional advantage for human beings is that Broca’s area and Wernicke's area in the brain’s cerebrum are closely associated with speech comprehension. Furthermore, most animals do not possess certain pathways in their bodies that humans do which enables us to regulate windflow and form words. Birds like parrots, hummingbirds, and songbirds or mammals like bats and cetaceans possess them. Hence, they can form words.
Humans possess a gene that is absent in other animal species called the FOXP2 which works with other genes that help us speak and learn languages. Some scientists believe that since humans evolved from aquatic apes, their evolution process included learning to control breathing, which enabled them to make the required sounds for talking.
Human language is constructed based on abstract thinking, supported by the ability to form complex thoughts and understand the symbolism behind words that represent those ideas. Animals do not have the cognitive abilities to apply the rules of syntax and grammar required to form sentences.
Primates, dolphins, and certain birds have advanced communication methods and systems that help them communicate within their group. However, they haven’t attained the complexity of human communication. These creatures lack the intricate social structures that will help develop complex communication systems. The human language is transmitted culturally and evolves with every generation through the accumulation and dispersion of knowledge. Some animals can learn and transmit behaviours but they do not exhibit the same evolution and accumulation of symbolic meaning.
Animal communication is limited to expressing immediate needs or emotions and does not engage in the same level of intentional, creative communication that characterises human language. While many animals have sophisticated means of communication that fulfil their needs and environments, the unique combination of anatomical structures, neurological capabilities, cognitive functions, and evolutionary history that humans have that enables them to speak are missing in the animal kingdom.
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