February 23, 2026
Bouba, Kiki… and clucks
Baby chicks pass the bouba-kiki test, challenging a theory of language evolution
Chicks ace ‘bouba vs kiki’; commenters argue it’s cute science, not a language breakthrough
TLDR: Newborn chicks link “bouba” to round and “kiki” to spiky, suggesting an inborn sound–shape instinct beyond humans. Commenters mostly say it’s cute but not a language revolution, grumbling about reposts while cracking chicken–egg jokes; the real impact is challenging human specialness, not explaining how speech began.
Baby chicks just aced the “bouba vs. kiki” vibe check: “bouba” sent them waddling to a round, flower-like shape; “kiki” pulled them to a spiky, cartoon-explosion shape. Published in Science, the study hints this sound–shape instinct might be ancient and not uniquely human. The comments? Pure barnyard drama.
One camp rolled their eyes: this doesn’t overturn how language evolved—“bouba-kiki” is a neat parlor trick, not the foundation of speech. Others argued it’s not surprising birds show it: animals share brain wiring that helps map sounds to things, so of course some species get the same vibes. Meanwhile, the repost police swooped in with “Front page two days ago” and dropped the earlier HN thread link, while a paywall warrior tossed in an archive for the curious.
Then the comedy corner: one quipped, “which came first: the chicken or the egg? language.” Cue groans and upvotes. A side skirmish lit up over apes: great apes previously flunked bouba-kiki, but folks argued bonobo Kanzi’s language training may have skewed results. Verdict from the crowd: fun finding, headline hype. It’s an adorable nudge at human uniqueness—but not the Rosetta Stone of how words began.
Key Points
- •Newborn chicks associate “bouba” with rounded shapes and “kiki” with spiky shapes, mirroring human responses.
- •Experiments were conducted within hours of hatching, suggesting the effect reflects an innate, not learned, bias.
- •Results: 80% of chicks approached the round shape after hearing “bouba,” spending over three minutes exploring it; preferences reversed for “kiki.”
- •The study was published in Science and led by Maria Loconsole at the University of Padua.
- •Prior ape studies reported failures on bouba-kiki tasks; researchers suggest ape training may have influenced those outcomes.