Does Cognition in the Disconnected Right Hemisphere Require Right Hemisphere Possession of Language?

It has been asserted at times that the human right hemisphere is cognitively inferior to that of a chimpanzee or even a monkey. Related is the even stronger claim that human consciousness, as well as cognition, requires language. These claims are discussed, and counterexamples are presented from both split-brain subjects and patients hemispherectomized in adulthood after customary development as right-handers.