No last words either?? After all that? Nothing to say at the end!?!?!?

Apes really can't acquire language. The ape was COMMUNICATING, not using language. Ask any linguist.

Care to elaborate on that one? I can't see the difference from here.

Is it just semantics or an argument about the chimp's language skills?

Yes, sorry. Semantics AND about the chimp's skills. I don't mean to argue. I don't know why I was down voted. I up voted the link. I have no clue why an educated opinion would get a down vote. Besides, it was related to the link. I only mean to highlight the interesting issues surrounding ape "language". It's really fascinating.

To describe how apes and other primates use language, you must understand that they only "speak" horizontally. Meaning, the structure of the sentence never builds on the previous word. At least in an organized way. Other things point to the fact that they don't have language.

For example, they cannot pass on their communication skills. Scientist have tried to do this with many apes, even Coco the gorilla, but they never could successfully pass on the "language".

I loved studying apes and language in school.

Yeah - not sure about the down vote thing either. 'twasn't me guv. Seemed like a reasonable enough response that people just didn't want to hear.

Interesting answer there too - thanks for that. I'll be looking into it more.