Overview

• Researchers have created a comprehensive 'bonobo dictionary' by systematically decoding the meanings of individual calls and their combinations.
• The study reveals that bonobos employ both simple and complex compositional structures in their vocalizations, similar to human syntax.
• Advanced linguistic methods, including distributional semantics, were used to map and quantify the meanings of bonobo vocalizations.
• The findings suggest that the ability to construct complex meanings from smaller units existed in the common ancestor of humans and bonobos over 7 million years ago.
• The study was conducted in the Kokolopori Community Reserve in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, highlighting the natural communication behaviors of wild bonobos.