Kanzi's Primal Language The Cultural Initiation of Primates into Language

Sue Savage-Rumbaugh's work on the language capabilities of the bonobo Kanzi has intrigued the world because of its far-reaching implications for understanding the evolution of the human language. This book takes the reader behind the scenes of the filmed language tests. It argues that while the tests prove that Kanzi has language, the even more remarkable manner in which he originally acquired it - spontaneously, in a culture shared with humans - calls for a re-thinking of language, emphasizing its primal cultural dimensions.

Sue Savage-Rumbaugh is Professor of Biology and Psychology at Georgia State University, USA. William Fields is Research Scientist at the new Great Ape Trust of Iowa in Des Moines (GATI), USA. Par Segerdahl is Associate Professor of Philosophy at the Centre for Bioethics at the Karolinska Institute and Uppsala University in Sweden.