The theories on language origin.pptx

th eorigen of languaje

1. Linguistics I The First Theories of Language

2. Linguistics I It is an intriguing question, to which we may never have a complete answer: How did we get from animal vocalization (barks, howls, calls...) to human language? So when did language begin? At the very beginnings of the genus Homo, perhaps 4 or 5 million years ago? Before that? Or with the advent of modern man, Cro-Magnon, some 125,000 years ago? Did the Neanderthal speak? We don't know. What was the first language? How did language begin—where and when? Until recently, a sensible linguist would likely respond to such questions with a shrug and a sigh. As Bernard Campbell states flatly in Humankind Emerging (Allyn & Bacon, 2005), "We simply do not know, and never will, how or when language began."

3. Linguistics I It is hard to imagine a cultural phenomenon that is more important than the development of language. And yet no human attribute offers less conclusive evidence regarding its origins. The mystery, says Christine Kenneally in her book  The First Word , lies in the nature of the spoken word.

4. Linguistics I The absence of such evidence certainly hasn't discouraged speculation about the origins of language. Over the centuries, many theories have been put forward—and just about all of them have been challenged, discounted, and often ridiculed. Each theory accounts for only a small part of what we know about language. The origins of human language are a mystery. Most historians believe that language began 150,000 years ago, while written language appeared 6000 years ago.

5. Linguistics I The Bow-Wow Theory 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 .  What's wrong with this theory? Relatively few words are onomatopoeic, and these words vary from one language to another. For instance, a dog's bark is heard as  au au  in Brazil,  ham ham  in Albania, and  wang , wang  in China. In addition, many onomatopoeic words are of recent origin, and not all are derived from natural sounds. “ Language began as imitations of natural sounds -- moo, choo-choo, crash, clang, buzz, bang, meow...  This is more technically referred to as onomatopoeia or echoism.”

6. Linguistics I The Ding-Dong Theory This theory, favored by 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. What's wrong with this theory? Apart from some rare instances of  sound symbolism , there's no persuasive evidence, in any language, of an innate connection between sound and meaning.

7. Linguistics I The La-La Theory The Danish linguist Otto Jespersen suggested that language may have developed from sounds associated with love, play, and (especially) song. What's wrong with this theory? As David Crystal notes in  How Language Works  (Penguin, 2005), this theory still fails to account for "the gap between the emotional and the rational aspects of speech expression."

8. Linguistics I The Pooh-Pooh Theory This theory holds that speech began with  interjections —spontaneous cries of pain ("Ouch!"), surprise ("Oh!"), and other emotions ("Yabba dabba do!"). What's wrong with this theory? No language contains very many interjections, and, Crystal points out, "the clicks, intakes of breath, and other noises which are used in this way bear little relationship to the  vowels  and  consonants  found in  phonology .“ Language began with interjections, instinctive emotive cries such as oh! for surprise and ouch! for pain.

9. Linguistics I The Yo -He-Ho Theory According to this theory, language evolved from the grunts, groans, and snorts evoked by heavy physical labor. What's wrong with this theory? 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. Language began as rhythmic chants, perhaps ultimately from the grunts of heavy work (heave-ho!).