Lecture 2 - Origins of Language

THE ORIGINS OF LANGUAGE
Spoken language must have developed between 100,000 and

50,000 years ago.
Spoken language developed before written language.
Written language developed about 5,000 years ago.
We never find any direct evidence or artifacts relating to the

speech of our distant ancestors.
6 HYPOTHESES
The Divine Source
The Natural Sound Source
The Physical Adaptation Source
Teeth, Lips, Mouth, Larynx and Pharynx
The Human Brain
The Genetic Source
The Divine Source
In most religions, there appears to be a divine source

who provides humans with language.
A few experiments have been carried out, with rather

conflicting results.
The basic hypothesis if human infants were allowed

to grow up without hearing any language around
1
them, then they would spontaneously begin using the
original God-given language.
An Egyptian pharaoh and King James the Fourth of

Scotland carried out experiments to find out this divine
language and identified Phrygian and Hebrew
respectively as the divine language.
However, all other cases do not confirm the results of

these types of divine-source experiments.
Very young children living without access to human

language in their early years grow up with no language
at all.
based on the concept of natural sounds.
primitive words are imitations of the natural sounds

which early men and women heard around them.
The fact that all modern languages have some words

with pronunciations that seem to echo naturally
occurring sounds is used to support this theory.
There are five imitation hypotheses:
The ding-dong hypothesis
The pooh-pooh hypothesis
The bow-wow hypothesis
The ta-ta hypothesis
2
The yo-he-ho hypothesis
The ding-dong hypothesis
Language began when humans started naming

objects, actions and phenomena after a
recognizable sound associated with it in real life.
A word was a verbal icon, a sign whose form was

an exact image of its meaning, also known as
onomatopoeia.
Eg. splash, bang, boom, rattle, etc.
Problems:
o Onomatopoeia is a very limited part of the

vocabulary of any language.
o Imitative sounds differ from language to

language;
eg. Russian
Ba-bakh - bang
bukh - thud
o Where did names for the thousands of

naturally noiseless concepts such as rock,
sun, sky come from?
3
The pooh-pooh hypothesis
o The first words came from involuntary

exclamations of dislike, hunger, pain, or
pleasure.
o Eg.Ouch! and other interjections such as Ah!,

Ooh!, Wow!, Yuck!,etc.
o Problems:
o Emotional exclamations are a very small

part of any language.
o They are also language specific.
Eg: To express sudden pain or discomfort

Eng-ouch; Russian-oi; Cherokee-eee; Urdu-
uf; Hindi- aaha, haaye
o The interjections are usually produced with

sudden intakes of breath.
o In contrast, (in ordinary talk) we normally

produce spoken language on exhaled
breath.
o The interjections contain sounds that are

not otherwise used in speech production
and consequently are rather unlikely
candidates as source sounds for language.
4
The bow-wow hypothesis
Holds that vocabulary developed from imitations

of animal noises, such as moo, hiss, meow,
quack-quack, bow-wow, etc.
Problems:
o The linguistic renditions of animal sounds

differ considerably from language to
language, although each species of animal
everywhere makes essentially the same
sound.
o Dog : bow-wow; Chinese:wu-wu; Jap: wan-

wan; Russ:gaf-gaf.
o Russian rooster: kukareiku; Jap:kokekoko
The ta-ta hypothesis
Some linguists influenced by Darwin believed

that language developed as an unconscious vocal
imitation of gestures, like the way a child s
mouth will move when he/she uses scissors,
movement of the tongue when saying goodbye
resembles movement of waving of the hand.
Problem:
o Human gestures just like onomatopoeic

words differ from culture to culture.
5
The yo-he-ho hypothesis
The idea is that the sounds of a person involved

in physical effort could be the source of our
language, especially when that physical effort
involved several people and had to be
coordinated.
Early humans might have developed a set of

grunts, groans and curses that were used when
they were lifting trees or lifeless mammoths.
The appeal of this theory is that it places the

development of human language in some social
context.
Problems:
Apes and other primates have grunts and social

calls, but they do not seem to have developed
the capacity for speech.
Does not explain how most of the soundless as well as

abstract things in our world could have been referred
to in a language that simply echoed natural sounds.
The onomatopoeic origin leaves unexplained the

development of grammar the patterns in language
which have definite structural functions but no specific
meaning.
6
The Physical Adaptation Source
In the study of evolutionary development, there are

certain physical features, best thought of as partial
adaptations, which appear to be relevant for speech.
They are streamlined versions of features found in

other primates.
By themselves, such features would not necessarily

lead to speech production, but they are good clues
that a creature possessing such features probably has
the capacity for speech.
Teeth, Lips, Mouth, Larynx and Pharynx
Physical features of human beings: good clues for their

capacity for speech.
Human mouth, teeth, lips, and tongue are designed in

a way that makes them play a major role in producing
speech sounds.
Human mouth: relatively small compared to other

primates, can be opened and closed rapidly.
Human teeth : very helpful in making sounds such as f

or v.
Human lips: flexibility, needed for sounds like p, b and

w.
Human tongue: can be used to shape a wide variety of

sounds inside the oral cavity.
7
Human larynx: position lower than in monkeys.
Longer cavity called pharynx acts as resonator.
The Human Brain
The human brain controls the physical parts involved in

sound production.
The human brain is lateralized.
Has special functions in each of the two hemispheres:
Left hemisphere: analytic, tool using, language
Right hemisphere: holistic, music
Those functions that control motor movements

involved in things like speaking and object
manipulation (making or using tools) are largely
confined to the left hemisphere of the brain for most
humans.
It may be that there is an evolutionary connection

between the language-using and tool-using abilities of
humans and that both are involved in the development
of the speaking brain.
The Genetic Source
The automatic set of developments and the complexity

of the young childs language have led some scholars
to look for something more powerful than small The
Genetic Source
8
The automatic set of developments and the complexity
of the young childs language have led some scholars
to look for something more powerful than small
adaptations of the species over time.
It indicates that human off-springs are born with a

special capacity for language.
The innateness hypothesis point out to something in

human genetics as the source.
adaptations of the species over time.
It indicates that human off-springs are born with a

special capacity for language.
The innateness hypothesis point out to something in

human genetics as the source.

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THE ORIGINS OF LANGUAGE

Spoken language must have developed between 100,000 and

Spoken language developed before written language.

Written language developed about 5,000 years ago.

We never find any direct evidence or artifacts relating to the

The Divine Source

The Natural Sound Source

The Physical Adaptation Source

Teeth, Lips, Mouth, Larynx and Pharynx

The Human Brain

The Genetic Source

The Divine Source

In most religions, there appears to be a divine source

A few experiments have been carried out, with rather

The basic hypothesis if human infants were allowed

An Egyptian pharaoh and King James the Fourth of

However, all other cases do not confirm the results of

Very young children living without access to human

The Natural Sound Source

based on the concept of natural sounds.

primitive words are imitations of the natural sounds

The fact that all modern languages have some words

There are five imitation hypotheses:

The ding-dong hypothesis

The pooh-pooh hypothesis

The bow-wow hypothesis

The ta-ta hypothesis

The ding-dong hypothesis

Language began when humans started naming

A word was a verbal icon, a sign whose form was

Eg. splash, bang, boom, rattle, etc.

o Onomatopoeia is a very limited part of the

o Imitative sounds differ from language to

o Where did names for the thousands of

o The first words came from involuntary

o Eg.Ouch! and other interjections such as Ah!,

o Emotional exclamations are a very small

o They are also language specific.

Eg: To express sudden pain or discomfort

o The interjections are usually produced with

o In contrast, (in ordinary talk) we normally

o The interjections contain sounds that are

Holds that vocabulary developed from imitations

o The linguistic renditions of animal sounds

o Dog : bow-wow; Chinese:wu-wu; Jap: wan-

o Russian rooster: kukareiku; Jap:kokekoko

The ta-ta hypothesis

Some linguists influenced by Darwin believed

o Human gestures just like onomatopoeic

The idea is that the sounds of a person involved

Early humans might have developed a set of

The appeal of this theory is that it places the

Apes and other primates have grunts and social

The Natural Sound Source

Does not explain how most of the soundless as well as

The onomatopoeic origin leaves unexplained the

In the study of evolutionary development, there are

They are streamlined versions of features found in