He could identify sounds made by two - letter combinations such as SH and OR .
Pepperberg was training Alex to recognize English graphemes , in the hope that he would conceptually relate an English written word with the spoken word .
Alex could identify sounds made by two - letter combinations such as SH and OR .
Pepperberg was training Alex to recognize English graphemes , in the hope that he would conceptually relate an English written word with the spoken word .