Sperm whales have an "alphabet" and produce vowel sounds. The structure of these vowels is formed in the same way as in human speech.
This is stated in a study published in the scientific journal Proceedings B, writes The Guardian.
Sperm whales communicate using a series of short clicks called codes. Their conversation sounds like a jumble of Morse code to the human ear. By removing the gaps between the clicks, researchers were able to find patterns that are strikingly similar to human language.
Analysis of clicks shows that these whales can distinguish between vowel sounds using short or long clicks and rising or falling tones. They use patterns similar to languages such as Chinese, Latin, and Slovenian. Just as humans change the shape of their vocal cords to turn an “A” into an “E”, whales can manipulate vowel sounds to change their meaning.
The structure of whale communication has close parallels with the phonetics and sound structure of human languages. Sperm whale communication is very complex and is among the closest to human speech of any animal.
This discovery has gradually brought humans closer to being able to fully understand sperm whales and other whales, and even communicate with them. Scientists have set a goal of understanding 20 different vocal expressions related to activities such as diving and sleeping over the next five years. According to one researcher, the ability to fully understand what whales are saying, or to be able to communicate with them, is still a distant prospect, but not that far-fetched.
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