Is possessing a language a quintessentially human trait?

Some Insight into Lack of Syntax in the Natural Communication of Non-human Primates

The dichotomy between human speaking language and others do not sums up the fascination of answering questions like- where did language come from and why do humans speak language and others do not.  A recent widely cited article "Language faculty: what is it, who has it and how did it evolve?" (Hauser et al., 2002) has argued recursion to be the single distinctive feature of human capacity for language. Does animal communication show any recursive ability? Hauser & Fitch (2004) states that a computational process responsible for the generative and hierarchical properties of narrow syntax is lacking in non-human primates. In recent past some empirical studies have been done which demonstrate some linguistic abilities in non-human primates. Some researchers also thought that apes have the capacity for language but never profited from a humanlike cultural milieu in which language was taught. Even then the most vital question still remains that non-human primates though seemingly have complex sequential learning abilities, so why did not they evolve a similarly complex communication system?

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