There are certain fundamental differences between human language and animal communication. Even though parrots and apes can be taught and can pick up a few words here and there, they can’t grasp the nuances of how humans use language. Let’s take a look at how human language and animal communication differ from each other.
John McWhorter, writing for Great Courses Daily:
Displacement is one thing we, humans, can do with language. One thing we don’t have to think about consciously is talk about something that isn’t there: it might be in the past, it might be in the future, it might be hypothetical.
Animals don't "discuss" things that are not happening in the present moment.
Another distinguishing feature is called productivity, which means that you can take the elements of language and combine them in infinite combinations. It’s not just eating a banana, wanting a banana, or where’s the banana. It’s all sorts of things about the banana: ‘The banana tastes good,’ ‘The banana is broken,’ ‘I’m going to break this banana so I can fit it into the cooler,’ etc.
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