For all the world’s linguistic diversity, human languages still obey some universal patterns. These run even deeper than grammar and syntax; they’re rooted in statistical laws that predict how frequently we use certain words and how long those words tend to be. Think of them as built-in guardrails to keep language easy to learn and use.

Despite humans and whales being separated by millions of years of evolution, our vocalizations follow the same principle outlined in Zipf's law

The sounds that make up humpback whale songs follow some of the same statistical rules seen in human languages, which may be because of how they are learned

Humpback whale songs share structural similarities with human language, suggesting complex communication patterns.

But these are special occasion words, sprinkled sparingly into writing and conversation. The words in heaviest rotation are short and mundane.

Study (Maria) The author writes, “The mysterious grunts and moans of the humpback whale have long captivated humans — so much so that we put recordings of them onto the Voyager spacecraft to convey the sounds of Earth to other life forms.