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The origin of language, its relationship with human evolution, and its consequences have been subjects of study for centuries.Scholars wishing to study the origins of language must draw inferences from evidence such as the fossil record, archaeological evidence, contemporary language diversity, studies of language acquisition, and comparisons between human language and systems of animal ...
Biological Basis of Language. The origins of language are closely tied to human evolution, particularly changes in brain structure, vocal anatomy, and genetic factors. 1. Brain Development. The human brain’s size and complexity are central to language ability. Key areas include: Broca’s Area: Associated with speech production and grammar.
Essay on the Origin of Languages (French: Essai sur l'origine des langues) is an essay by Jean-Jacques Rousseau published posthumously in 1781. [1] Rousseau had meant to publish the essay in a short volume which was also to include essays On Theatrical Imitation and The Levite of Ephraim. In the preface to this would-be volume, Rousseau wrote ...
- The Bow-Wow Theory
- The Ding-Dong Theory
- The La-La Theory
- The Pooh-Pooh Theory
- The Yo-He-Ho Theory
- Will We Ever Discover The Origin of Language?
- The Evolution of Human Language
According to this theory, language began when our ancestors started imitating the natural sounds around them. The first speech was onomatopoeic—marked by echoic words such as moo, meow, splash, cuckoo, and bang. So what's wrong with this theory? Well, relatively few words are onomatopoeic, and these words vary from one language to another. For inst...
This theory, favored by ancient philosophers Plato and Pythagoras, maintains that speech arose in response to the essential qualities of objects in the environment. The original sounds people made were supposedly in harmony with the world around them. Apart from some rare instances of sound symbolism, there is no persuasive evidence, in any languag...
Danish linguistOtto Jespersen suggested that language may have developed from sounds associated with love, play, and (especially) song. As David Crystal notes in "How Language Works," this theory still fails to account for "... the gap between the emotional and the rational aspects of speech expression... ."
This theory holds that speech originated with interjections—spontaneous cries of pain ("Ouch!"), surprise ("Oh!"), and other emotions ("Yabba dabba do!"). However, no language contains very many interjections, and, Crystal points out that the clicks, intakes of breath, and other noises used in this way "bear little relationship to the vowels and co...
According to this theory, language evolved from the grunts, groans, and snorts evoked by heavy physical labor. Though this notion may account for some of the rhythmic features of the language, it doesn't go very far in explaining where words come from.
As American linguist Peter Farb wrote in "Word Play: What Happens When People Talk," virtually all these theories "have serious flaws, and none can withstand the scrutiny of present knowledge about the structure of language and about the evolution of our species." But does this mean that allquestions about the origin of language are unanswerable? N...
Still curious about language? There are several other theoriesabout the origin and evolution of human language. Among other things considered, physical adaptations in humans, such as changes in teeth, lips, and the larynx, as well as theories on the role of gestures and social bonding, contribute to the ongoing debate on the evolution of language.
- Richard Nordquist
May 2, 2018 · 5 Present Issue. This special issue provides an interdisciplinary view on contemporary language evolution research. It opens with two articles, those of Nathalie Gontier and Francesco Suman, which address epistemological issues concerning the relation between theory of evolution and language origin research.
- Francesco Ferretti, Ines Adornetti, Alessandra Chiera, Erica Cosentino, Serena Nicchiarelli
- 2018
The origins of language The suspicion does not appear improbable that the progenitors of man, either the males or females, or both sexes, before they had acquired the power of expressing their mutual love in articulate language, endeavoured to charm each other with musical notes and rhythm. Darwin (1871)
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Jan 1, 2013 · Essay on the origin of language (which is cited here). Herder especially argued that. human language was not God-given, and that it started in animal communication (p. 94). Like Lucretius, he ...
