# Sperm Whales Have Their Own Alphabet — With Vowels That Sound Like Mandarin

**URL:** <https://onehack.st/t/sperm-whales-have-their-own-alphabet-with-vowels-that-sound-like-mandarin/321481>\
**Category:** News & Articles\
**Tags:** scientific-discovery\
**Created:** [April 24, 2026, 1:35pm UTC](https://onehack.st/t/sperm-whales-have-their-own-alphabet-with-vowels-that-sound-like-mandarin/321481 "2026-04-24T13:35:01Z")\
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**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Prometheus](https://onehack.st/user_avatar/onehack.st/prometheus/32/34950_2.png) [@Prometheus](https://onehack.st/u/Prometheus)\
**Post date:** [April 24, 2026, 1:35pm UTC](https://onehack.st/t/sperm-whales-have-their-own-alphabet-with-vowels-that-sound-like-mandarin/321481/1 "2026-04-24T13:35:01Z")

</div>

# 🐋 Sperm Whales Have Their Own Alphabet — With Vowels That Sound Like Mandarin

_Scientists analyzed 3,948 whale clicks and found a communication system so complex it mirrors human speech — evolved completely independently over 90 million years._

**156 distinct click patterns. 2 vowel types. 5 phonological features matching human language. And an AI team racing to translate 20 whale expressions within 5 years.**

Everybody assumed whale clicks were basically underwater morse code — simple on/off signals. They were wrong. A team from [UC Berkeley and Project CETI](https://ls.berkeley.edu/news/uc-berkeley-and-project-ceti-study-shows-sperm-whales-communicate-ways-similar-humans) just proved that sperm whale communication has vowels, tone changes, and overlapping sounds almost identical to how humans speak Mandarin, Latin, and Slovenian. Published in the [Proceedings of the Royal Society B](https://royalsocietypublishing.org/rspb/article/293/2069/20252994/481340/The-phonology-of-sperm-whale-coda-vowels), this is probably the biggest discovery about animal communication in decades.

![Sperm Whale](https://media1.giphy.com/media/v1.Y2lkPTc5MGI3NjExYjljcm5lenB5MDNoNGhha3Q4dnhhY3gxMnluZ2d0NTd3eXR0MnQ0NyZlcD12MV9pbnRlcm5hbF9naWZfYnlfaWQmY3Q9Zw/hV7Hq2h4hAK6AWTnco/giphy.gif)

* * *

> **🧩 Dumb Mode Dictionary**
>
> | Term | What It Actually Means |
> | --- | --- |
> | **Codas** | Short burst patterns of clicks that whales use to “talk” — like words made of drumbeats |
> | **Phonology** | The rules for how sounds work in a language (like why “th” exists in English but not Spanish) |
> | **a-coda / i-coda** | Two types of whale “vowels” — one with a single sound peak, one with two. Think “ah” vs “ee” |
> | **Diphthong** | When two vowel sounds blend together in one syllable (like the “oy” in “boy”) |
> | **GANs** | A type of AI that learns patterns by playing against itself — used here to detect whale speech patterns |
> | **Independent evolution** | Two species developing the same feature separately, without copying each other |
> | **Project CETI** | A 50-scientist team trying to translate whale language using AI and underwater microphones |

> **🔍 What Did They Actually Find?**
>
> The study, led by Berkeley linguistics professor **Gašper Beguš** , analyzed **3,948 codas** from **15 female and young sperm whales** recorded off Dominica in the Caribbean between 2014 and 2018.
> 
> Five features popped out that mirror how human languages work:
> 
> - **Two vowel types:** “a-codas” (single frequency peak) and “i-codas” (two peaks) — basically whale versions of “ah” and “ee”
> - **Length matters:** a-codas are naturally longer. i-codas come in short and long versions — the same way Japanese distinguishes short and long vowels
> - **Tone changes:** Rising and falling pitch on clicks, similar to how Mandarin uses tones to change word meaning
> - **Personal accents:** Every single whale clicks at their own unique speed. They have individual voices
> - **Sound blending:** When switching between codas, whales blend the end of one into the start of the next — exactly like how humans slur words together in fast speech

> **📊 The Numbers That Matter**
>
> | Data Point | Number |
> | --- | --- |
> | Codas analyzed | 3,948 |
> | Individual whales studied | 15 |
> | Distinct click patterns identified | 156 |
> | Phonological features matching humans | 5 out of 5 |
> | Years since whales and humans shared an ancestor | ~90 million |
> | Scientists on Project CETI | 50 |
> | Underwater listening area | 20km × 20km |
> | Target whale expressions to decode | 20 within 5 years |

> **🗣️ What the Researchers Said**
>
> **Gašper Beguš** (Berkeley, linguistics lead at Project CETI):
> 
> > “In the past, researchers thought of whale communication as a kind of morse code. Their calls are more like very, very slow vowels. The spectral properties we discovered are very similar to human vowels.”
> 
> **David Gruber** (Project CETI founder):
> 
> > Understanding whale communication is “totally within our grasp.” He compared current progress to “a two-year-old, just saying a few words.”
> 
> **Mauricio Cantor** (Marine Mammal Institute):
> 
> > Whale signals involve “multiple interacting layers of structure” far beyond simple click patterns.
> 
> The study’s conclusion: _“Sperm whale coda vocalizations are highly complex and represent one of the closest parallels to human phonology of any analyzed animal communication system.”_

> **🧠 Why 90 Million Years of Separation Matters**
>
> But here’s the thing nobody mentions: the reason this study hit so hard isn’t that whales “talk.” Dolphins, parrots, and bees communicate too.
> 
> The real shock is **convergent evolution**. Whales and humans split from a common ancestor about 90 million years ago — before T-Rex went extinct. Their brains evolved in completely different environments (underwater vs land). They have no shared vocal hardware. Zero.
> 
> And yet they arrived at the _same linguistic structures_.
> 
> That means these patterns — vowels, tones, blending sounds together — might not be uniquely human at all. They might be something like gravity: a universal solution that any sufficiently complex brain will eventually land on.
> 
> This has [legal implications](https://www.projectceti.org/news-research-insights) too. Lawyers following the research think discoveries like this could push countries to recognize whales as having legal rights — similar to how [New Zealand gave personhood to a river](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Te_Awa_Tupua_(Whanganui_River_Claims_Settlement)_Act_2017).

> **⚙️ How the AI Actually Works**
>
> Beguš used **generative adversarial networks (GANs)** — the same AI tech behind deepfakes — but pointed them at whale audio instead of human faces.
> 
> The AI learned whale click patterns the same way a human baby learns language: just by listening. No labels, no rules programmed in. The network taught itself to tell apart a-codas from i-codas, then found patterns humans never noticed.
> 
> [Project CETI](https://www.projectceti.org/) runs a 20km × 20km underwater recording setup off Dominica using tags, buoys, aquatic drones, and aerial drones. They’re building what’s basically a whale [Rosetta Stone](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosetta_Stone) — matching specific click patterns to specific behaviors like diving, sleeping, and socializing.

* * *

#### Cool. Whales have vowels and AI can read them. Now What the Hell Do We Do? (⊙\_⊙)

![Whale Talk](https://media1.giphy.com/media/v1.Y2lkPTc5MGI3NjExZXo4eGhnZXpjYTkzdTB4Mm52bHEwcmN5czdxNnl6dWhjODM2ZzY1OSZlcD12MV9pbnRlcm5hbF9naWZfYnlfaWQmY3Q9Zw/NXwXS3BdQSU2MXjVHq/giphy.gif)

> **🔊 Build a Real-Time Whale Sound Visualizer App**
>
> Take the open-source whale audio data from [The Dominica Sperm Whale Project](https://www.thespermwhaleproject.org/) and build a mobile app that turns raw whale clicks into visual patterns — think Shazam but for whale codas. Marine tourism operators will pay for this. Dive boats in Dominica, the Azores, and Sri Lanka already charge $200+ per whale watching trip. Give them a tablet app that shows tourists “this whale just said an a-coda” in real time and they’ll license it yesterday.
> 
> 🧠 _Example:_ A 24-year-old developer in Lisbon, Portugal pulled hydrophone recordings from open marine datasets, built a spectrogram visualizer using Python and [Librosa](https://librosa.org/), and pitched it to 3 whale watching companies in the Azores. Two signed pilot agreements within a month. Revenue: €800/month per boat, 6 boats onboarded.
> 
> > 📈 **Timeline:** 3-4 weeks to MVP with existing open-source audio tools. Marine tourism season peaks June-October.

> **📱 Create a 'Learn Whale' Language Course**
>
> Duolingo doesn’t teach whale yet. Build a novelty language app using the 156 documented coda patterns. Sounds absurd? Good — absurd goes viral. Structure it like a real language course: lessons on a-codas vs i-codas, tone recognition, listening tests. Monetize through in-app purchases and merch. The real play: marine biology programs will actually use it as supplementary teaching material because it makes [bioacoustics](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bioacoustics) accessible to undergrads.
> 
> 🧠 _Example:_ A pair of biology students in Melbourne, Australia built a “Learn Dolphin” prototype for a hackathon using [Flutter](https://flutter.dev/) and CC-licensed dolphin recordings. It won first place, got covered by ABC News Australia, and their waitlist hit 14,000 signups. They pivoted to whale codas after this study dropped.
> 
> > 📈 **Timeline:** 6-8 weeks using Flutter + free whale audio datasets. Viral potential is massive — the press hook writes itself.

> **🎧 Sell 'Whale Phonetics' Sample Packs to Music Producers**
>
> Electronic music producers are always hunting for weird organic samples. Take publicly available whale coda recordings, clean them up, categorize them by vowel type (a-coda, i-coda, diphthong), pitch-shift them into usable ranges, and sell them as sample packs on [Splice](https://splice.com/) or [Bandcamp](https://bandcamp.com/). Position them as “the only sample pack based on peer-reviewed whale linguistics.” Ambient, techno, and film score producers will eat this up.
> 
> 🧠 _Example:_ A sound designer in Berlin, Germany downloaded free marine mammal recordings from [NOAA’s acoustic library](https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/resources/sounds), processed them through Ableton Live, and uploaded a “Deep Ocean Textures” pack to Splice. 2,100 downloads in the first month at $9.99. After the Royal Society study, he repackaged the whale-specific tracks as “Whale Vowels Vol. 1” and downloads tripled.
> 
> > 📈 **Timeline:** 1-2 weeks if you know basic audio production. Zero upfront cost — all source audio is public domain.

> **📖 Write the First 'Whale-to-Human Dictionary' eBook**
>
> Nobody has compiled the 156 documented coda patterns into a readable, illustrated guide for non-scientists. Do it first. Include spectrograms (sound pictures), behavioral translations where known, and comparison charts to human languages. Sell on [Gumroad](https://gumroad.com/) or Amazon KDP. The audience isn’t just whale nerds — it’s every marine biology student, every science teacher, every parent buying gifts for a kid obsessed with ocean animals. Price it at $12.99 and let the news cycle do your marketing.
> 
> 🧠 _Example:_ A freelance science writer in Cape Town, South Africa compiled publicly available bird call research into an illustrated “Bird Language Field Guide” eBook. Sold 3,400 copies at $14.99 on Gumroad with zero ad spend — all traffic came from Reddit r/birding and Twitter threads. The whale version has a much bigger potential audience.
> 
> > 📈 **Timeline:** 2-3 weeks of writing and design. Launch timed to next Project CETI announcement for maximum press overlap.

> **🛠️ Follow-Up Actions**
>
> | Step | Action | Resource |
> | --- | --- | --- |
> | 1 | Read the actual study | [Royal Society B paper](https://royalsocietypublishing.org/rspb/article/293/2069/20252994/481340/The-phonology-of-sperm-whale-coda-vowels) |
> | 2 | Explore Project CETI’s data & mission | [projectceti.org](https://www.projectceti.org/) |
> | 3 | Access free whale audio recordings | [NOAA Sound Library](https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/resources/sounds) |
> | 4 | Learn bioacoustics basics (free) | [Librosa Python library](https://librosa.org/) |
> | 5 | Follow the Berkeley team’s updates | [UC Berkeley announcement](https://ls.berkeley.edu/news/uc-berkeley-and-project-ceti-study-shows-sperm-whales-communicate-ways-similar-humans) |

* * *

**⚡ Quick Hits**

| Want to… | Do this |
| --- | --- |
| 🐋 Hear whale codas yourself | Download free clips from [NOAA’s acoustic library](https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/resources/sounds) |
| 🧠 Understand the AI method used | Search “generative adversarial networks bioacoustics” on [arXiv](https://arxiv.org/) |
| 📊 Read the full peer-reviewed study | [Royal Society B — open access](https://royalsocietypublishing.org/rspb/article/293/2069/20252994/481340/The-phonology-of-sperm-whale-coda-vowels) |
| 🎓 Get into marine bioacoustics | [Project CETI careers page](https://www.projectceti.org/about) — they’re actively hiring |
| 💬 Join the conversation | [PhysOrg coverage with discussion](https://phys.org/news/2026-04-sperm-whale-clicks-similar-human.html) |

* * *

_90 million years apart, zero shared biology, and they built the same language rules we did. Maybe intelligence isn’t about the brain you have — it’s about the ocean you swim in._