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Contents

INTRODUCTION

DEFINITIONS OF LANGUAGE An oversimplified history of human evolution:

Probing the Evolution of Human Language

1. The Divine Source Theory - Belief in divine creation The Bible’s account: Adam—the First Human to Talk and Communicate Hindu Mythology Muslims - belief in Allah Experiments to verify divine origins of language Using Feral Children As Evidence Of ‘First’ Language The Tower of Babel—and Universal Language

EQUALITY OF LANGUAGES

2. The natural-sound source ‘Bow-wow theory’ of language origin ‘Yo – heave – ho’ theory of language origin

Original Language - Was There Ever An Original Language?

3. The oral-gesture source Linguists Interpretation of Oral Gesture Theory Body language Important features of Body Language

Musical ability or Musical Theory

4. Glossogenetics ---- A Scientific Approach Physiological adaptation - according to Glassogenetics

Anatomy of Speech- Larynx (the voice box)

Language and the Mind Revisited - The Biolinguistic Turn

The Brain’s Language Centers IDEAS  and  WORDS

5. Contact theory (Interactions and transactions) Interactions Transactions

LANGUAGE  and SOCIAL LIFE

CONCLUSION Personal comments (the theory and me) References

Contents

INTRODUCTION

DEFINITIONS OF LANGUAGE

An oversimplified history of human evolution:

Probing the Evolution of Human Language1)The Divine Source Theory - Belief in divine creation

The Bible’s account: Adam—the First Human to Talk and Communicate Hindu Mythology Muslims - belief in Allah Experiments to verify divine origins of language Using Feral Children As Evidence Of ‘First’ Language The Tower of Babel—and Universal Language

EQUALITY OF LANGUAGES

2)The natural-sound source

‘Bow-wow theory’ of language origin ‘Yo – heave – ho’ theory of language origin

Original Language - Was There Ever An Original Language?

3)The oral-gesture source

Linguists Interpretation of Oral Gesture Theory Body language Important features of Body Language

4)Musical ability or Musical Theory

5)Glossogenetics ---- A Scientific Approach

Physiological adaptation - according to Glassogenetics Anatomy of Speech- Larynx (the voice box)

Language and the Mind Revisited - The Biolinguistic Turn

The Brain’s Language Centers IDEAS  and  WORDS

6)Contact theory (Interactions and transactions)

Interactions Transactions LANGUAGE  and SOCIAL LIFE

CONCLUSION

Personal comments (the theory and me)

References

INTRODUCTION By age four, most humans have developed an ability to communicate through oral language.  By age six or seven, most humans can comprehend, as well as express, written thoughts.  These unique abilities of communicating through a native language clearly separate humans from all animals.  The obvious question then arises, where did we obtain this distinctive trait? 

Or we may wonder why this skill has not evolved in other species.

DEFINITIONS OF LANGUAGE

Many attempts have been made by scholars to give a specific definition to the term “ language” but this has not been possible because scholars differ in their views as each of them gives his own definitions from his perspective.

A sociologist will see it from the social point of view; a psycholinguist in terms of the human mind and a behaviourist will

define language in terms of stimulus and response.

There are as many definitions of language as there are linguists. Some of the definitions of language are considered below:

According to Bloch and Trager (1942:5) language is: a system of arbitrary vocal symbols by means of which a social group co-operates

To . Sapir (1921:18) language is a purely human and a non-instinctive method of communicating ideas, emotions, and desires by means of voluntarily produced symbols.

Collier Encyclopedia (Vol. 14: 299) defines language as: the system of vocal and written symbols used by human beings to communicate their thoughts and feelings.

The American Encyclopedia sees language as: The faculty and ability possessed by normal human being and by no other species of using a Spoken or written utterance to represent many phenomena or events.

To Chomsky(1968)-Language is a set (finite or infinite) of sentence each finite in length and constructed out of a finite set of element.

In the above definitions,we could easily notice that it is a feature possessed by human beings and it is a means of

communication among humans (used within a community or society) with a definite system or convention established or agreed amongst them.

An oversimplified history of human evolution:2 million years ago—a tool-using Homo called Homo habilis (handy man) 

emerged.

1 ½ million years ago—Homo erectus (upright man) who used fire came

About 300,000 years ago—Archaic Homo sapiens (archaic wise man) arrived, followed by modern humans, Homo sapiens sapiens. 

About 50,000 years ago, we started using not just stone but also other raw materials such as bone and clay.  Paintings on cave walls started and living sites increased at this time

Probing the Evolution of Human Language

How did the first language come into being?

Though language is a communication system that has undergone a number of evolutionary changes but its origin still remains unknown

We have no sufficient evidence and knowledge of the early development of language because there is no direct knowledge of the origins. It is also not easy to imagine how we would determine how that knowledge could ever be obtained.

Steven Pinker, who stresses that speech is an adaptation resulting from natural selection, confesses that “the first steps towards human language are a mystery”

Obviously, it is difficult to discover how it actually came to being, but philosophers and linguists are continuously making attempts to make that discovery, coming up with numerous theories of language origin.

Speculation is a great method using imagination to develop theories and hypotheses on the origins of language form a base from which experimentation and observation can influence our knowledge-base. There are, however, lots of speculations (theories) about the origin of human language

1)The Divine Source Theory - Belief in divine creation:

whenever human encounters something they could not fully comprehend, they attribute it to God or some supernatural power.

. In most major religions there seems to be the Almighty who blesses mankind with means of communication. This so-called ‘divine source’ theory

The Bible’s account: Adam—the First Human to Talk and CommunicateThe Bible is the first example to uncover the origin of human language For instance, the biblical account

has it that when God created the first man ‘Adam’, he received the ability to speak from God. God gave him the opportunity to name all other creations. According to it, Adam and “whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof” (Genesis 2:19). So, Adam had the ability to speak on the very day that he was brought into existence!This belief predicates that humans were created from the start with an innate capacity to use language

It is also mentioned that Eve engaged in intelligent conversation with Satan (Genesis 3:1-5).

Then, that God said to Moses: ‘Who had made man’s mouth? ...  Have not I, the Lord?  Now therefore, go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall say’ (Exodus 4:11-12).

When God created the first human beings—Adam and Eve—He created them in His own image (Genesis 1:26-27).  This likeness unquestionably included the ability to engage in intelligible speech via human language.  In fact, God spoke to them from the very beginning of their existence as humans (Genesis 1:28-30).  Hence, they possessed the ability to understand verbal communication—and to speak themselves

Hindu Mythology

From the Hindu perspective, language originated from the goddess Surasvaty, mythological consort of the God Brahm or the wife of Brahma (the creator of the universe.) known as the Universal Mother; the Goddess of the wisdom, the knowledge, the arts and learning a. Sarasvati, the river Goddess, is usually depicted wearing a white sari and holding a vina, sitting upon a swan or lotus flower. Prayers are offered to her for refinements of art, culture and learning.

Rig Vedic hymns which mention Saraswati river are presented below:

ambitame naditame devitame sarasvati (II.41.16)(The best mother, the best river, the best Goddess, Saraswati)

Rig Veda 1/3/11 and: (I.3.12)

Saraswati conveys wisdom to those who are on a truthful path. She enhances consciousness. By granting divine knowledge, she upholds yajnas, the fire sacrifices.

(Saraswati like a great ocean appears with her ray, she rules all inspirations)

Muslims - belief in Allah The mercy that Allah has bestowed on mankind by allowing us to have a language is something we seldom acknowledge yet it is the first verse revealed to mankind through Prophet Mohammad (sallallu aleyhi wasalam).

The Quran says “ read in the name of thy lord who created you the human beings...who taught man the use of the pen, taught man that which he did not know.” (Surah 96, V 1-5)

He created man and taught him to speak Quran 55; 2

Experiments to verify divine origins of language:In attempts to rediscover this original, divine language a number of experiments However it seems that children with no simply grow up with no language at all.

Over the centuries there have been remarkable, experiments undertaken to try to establish an understanding of the origin of language :

In 7th centuy BC Egyptian Pharaoh Psammeticus (664 –610 B.C.) or Psamik I - took twins and

kept speech away from them. They were cared for by mute shepherd Reared amongst the goats when they uttered becos (used this word for bread), he enquired from which language this word emanated and found that Phrygian was the mother language. (N. W. corner of Turkey).

Frederick II of Hohenstaufen (1194-1250), Holy Roman Emperor - conducted a similar experiment but failed to come to a conclusion.

James IV of Scotland (1473-1513) gave two young children to a dumb woman in order to try to determine what language they would speak As the children matured, hearsay has it that they spoke Hebrew.

In ancient s experiments revealed that children living without any access to human speech unable to aquire any language.

Using Feral Children As Evidence Of ‘First’ Language

There have been many cases of children being found that have apparently been reared by animals, thus becoming isolated from social intercourse.

Amala and Kamala, the wolf-girls of Midnapore—had been confined to small room and received minimal human contact. The Rev. Joseph Amrito Lal Singh perpetrated about two autistic girls brought to his orphanage.

Other cases like

Victor or Aveyron (1788-1828) found in 1797 the forests of France, Kaspar Hauser of Nuremberg the son of Stephanie and the rightful Prince of Baden, Genie of Temple City, Los Angeles, California, USA (1970) have been gathered from Wolf

Children (1972) by Lucien Malson.It is now generally believed: language acquisition must take place in the first few years of life.Children never taught to speak in childhood never had any normal human interaction

The Tower of Babel—and Universal Language

Another account of biblical origin concerns the story of the tower of Babel where God ‘confounded’

men’s language and which led to the different languages of the world. : ‘Now the whole earth had one language and one speech’ (11:1).  When Noah and his family stepped off the ark, they spoke a single language that was passed on to their offspring Many evolutionary linguists believe that all human languages have descended from a single, primitive language, which itself evolved from the grunts and

noises of the lower animals “because the Lord did there confound the language of all the earth and from

thence did the Lord scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth: (Genesis 11: 9) –accounts for the diversity of languages.

Dursma correctly noted: ‘The Babel account suggests that several languages came into existence on that day.  It is presented as a miraculous intervention by God’ This depiction of the origin of languages coincides with the present status of these languages. Creationist Carl Wieland rightly remarked: ‘The evidence is wonderfully consistent with the notion that a small number of languages, separately created at Babel, has diversified into the huge variety of languages we have today’.The Bible’s explanation of the origin of multiple human languages is provided

Figure :  Oil painting (1563) of the Tower of Babel—the historical event during which God confused the human language. By Peter Breugel (1525-1569)

EQUALITY OF LANGUAGES

Technologies may be complex or simple, but language is always complex.

Though every stone age tribe ever encountered, has a language equal to English, Latin, or Greek, in terms of its expressive potential and grammatical complexity. 

No language can be termed to be primitive than others; each language has its own origin. There is no opinion that one language is superior to the other . Even in a situation whereby some languages are used more than the others, or they probably have the political or religious advantage,this still does not make them superior to the rest. Every society whether primitive or not has a ‘fully developed’ language which can be compared to any known standardized language. because of inherent interesting linguistic characteristics.

Important features of al1 languages are simplicity, regularity and

ruled governed, not one language can boast of being based holistically

or exclusively on these features.

2)The natural-sound source:

Another speculation on the origin of language is that the first words were imitations of natural sounds. Theorist who hold this view believe that human language developed as a result

of the sudden cries emanating from emotions of pain, anger ,joy or disgust. expressed in words. Like

“Ouch!”is a connotation for pain.Other examples include interjections (expressive noises) as “eh”, “oh”, “ah’, “wow”, “hey”,”hew”,”yuck”.

They are often produced with sudden intakes of breath the opposite of the ordinary speech

Thus theory opines that language evolved and developed as a result of the attempt by man to imitate the sounds of nature. This is also referred as echoism.

Examples of the natural sounds believed to have been imitated by men are moo, choo-choo, crash, clang, meow.

There are several hypotheses which attempted to explain the emergence of speech on the basis of sound imitation, or unintentional sound production. Although they seem more persuasive, they fail to answer many questions( like as soundless objects wood and stone are unlikely candidate as source of language

sounds) and therefore they are mere speculations and will never account for the origin of words.

.

a)‘Bow-wow theory’ of language origin

Bow-wow theory proposes that Language began as imitations of natural sounds andpeople imitated sounds they heard around them, thus creating first onomatopoeic words from which the rest of the language evolved. This theory seems to be supported by the fact that the majority of modern languages have onomatopeic expressions

It is true that there are words are in every language, i.e. words that natural sounds and animals sounds, splash”, “bang”, “boom”, “rattle”, “buzz”, “hiss”,

“screech”.CUCKOO bow wow, cawcaw,, etc....  This is more technically referred to as onomatopoeia.break, crush, strike...

b) ‘Yo – heave – ho’ theory of language origin: –

Yo-heave-ho theory proposes that human language is a result of the first human sounds made by people taking part in some physical effort.

Language perhaps began from the grunts of heavy work, such as when lifting something heavy or hauling (heave-ho!).  The linguist D. S. Diamond suggests that these were perhaps calls for assistance or cooperation accompanied by appropriate gestures,

At the dawn of civilisation when people worked in groups the grunts and groans they made while performing difficult manual tasks enabled them to develop a way of communicating which with time evolved into more elaborate form of conveying meaning. This idea emphasises a very important notion, namely social context crucial for the development and the use of language.

According to this theory, the origin of language

could be traced to the sounds emitted by a person especially persons

(or group of people) involved in physical efforts. Examples of such

sounds are grunts, groans, and swear words.

According to some scholars the progression from animal grunts to full modern human language may have proceeded as follows.

The first step by early hominids would be represented by monkeys, who produce different sounds under voluntary control. These sounds were considered to be instinctive reactions, but researches have shown that the monkeys were known to lie or to fake calls for specific reasons. The sounds they produce were overestimated as language apes have grunts and social calls, but have not developed the capacity for speech.

Original Language - Was There Ever An Original Language?

There are three ways to look at how languages could have evolved:

1. Monogenesis - This theory holds that all languages evolved from a common source as a result of cultural evolution and one original language spoken by a single group of Homo sapiens perhaps as early as 150 thousand years ago gave rise to all human languages spoken on the Earth today. The existence of differences is the result of population migration. If this is the case then language universals can be interpreted as evidence of common origin.

2. Polygenesis - This hypothesis holds that, as humans evolved parallel in more than one location; separate languages emerged in several places and each group developed its own unique language.  Each of the original languages then would then have diverged into numerous forms.  The major language families of today would be descended from these separate mother tongues.

All the ‘living’ languages may have developed from a single language but that language may have just been the winner of an earlier contest between several independent languages that came before.

Terrance Deacon commented on the intricacy of evolving a language when he wrote:

‘For a language feature to have such an impact on brain evolution that all members of the species come to share it, it must remain invariable across even the most drastic language change possible’ [emphasis in original).

　.

3)The oral-gesture source:

Oral-gesture Source: According to this theory people used physical gestures to communicate their ideas representing actions, characters, moods. Examples - the cry of a child (communication that it is hungry, hurt, cold, etc.); It is thought that over time they started to use not only their hands, but also movement of the mouth, lips and tongue which subsequently developed into speech The theory claims that a set of physical gestures was developed as a means of communication and from which, developed a set of oral

gestures (pantomimes) specifically involving the mouth, tongue and lips. Example: if one wishes to say: ‘sit down’ the mouth is positioned in a way that will represent the physical gesture for the same

message In saying Bye ,the movement of tongue, represents waving of hand called ‘a specialized pantomime of the tongue and lips’.

The “oral-gesture theory” proposes an extremely specific connection between physical and oral gesture involving a “specialized pantomime of the tongue and lips” (Sir Richard Paget, 1930).

Linguists Interpretation of Oral Gesture Theory

Englefield held that the obvious signs that are intelligible without prior convention are gestures, which can mimic actions.A vocabulary large enough to be of much use cannot be obtained on this basis rather than onomatopoeic words. Admittedly, words in many languages may have (or seem to have) some resemblance to the objects they denote; Englefield shows that a great deal can be conveyed without words.Robin Dunbar instances the work of Dorothy Cheney and Robert Seyfarth, who have analysed on a sound spectrograph the grunts (indistinguishable to the human ear) made by vervet monkeys, and have shown that calls given when approaching an animal dominant in the social group another group in the distance, The animals hearing these different calls respond in ways appropriate to each of them. The monkeys also use different sounds to warn against different types of predators. Dunbar infers from all this that “there is no need for a gestural phase” in the origin of language. “It can all be done by voice” .

Condillac, posited “langage d’action” as the starting point, it involved not only gestures, but also miming of all manner of actions.

Condillac’s view that cries of various kinds were among the natural reactions. But they gradually lost their natural emphasis. Condillac’s view A groan was originally a spontaneous expression of emotion depending on the situation confronting both partners to the conversation – a situation of which they are both aware and where the one knows what can be expected of the other if they are to exploit or remedy it. If each knows that they are both worried about a lost sheep, making the voice signal for ‘sheep’. The gesture-language would help to remove ambiguities and uncertainties which, to begin with, would be frequent .Rousseau’s famous paradox had been formulated with the same that is to say, the invention of so elaborate an instrument as language, and its adoption by all members of the community, require an intellectual capacity and a degree of co-operation that could have been reached only in a community already in possession of language.

Body language

Many of our physical gestures, using body hands and face, are means of nonverbal communication and are used by modern humans, even with their developed linguistic skills A threatening gesture, a disapproving look, and other self-explanatory signs.

Sir Richard Paget, believed that body movement preceded language.  Language began as an unconscious vocal imitation of these movements—like the way a child’s mouth will move when they use scissors, or my tongue sticks out when I try to play the guitar

He for instance, held that hand gestures themselves prompt the gesticulators to make sounds. In the late nineteenth century, Lazarus Geiger and Wilhelm Wundt supposed that gestures were, for some reason, imitated by movements of the lips, tongue and mouth – an idea recently taken up by Gordon Hewes,

Communication experts point out that only a small percentage of communication is verbal whereas a large percentage is through body language. The study of body movements is also known as Kinesis.

we nod our heads to show approval or shake our heads to indicate disapproval. When someone is in difficulty, he wrings (twists) his hands in frustration. some one blinked to mean that he was confused, someone was bleary eyed to mean that he was not focusing and some one kept his fingers crossed to mean that he was eagerly anticipating .

Important features of Body Language

Posture

The way a person stands or sits is his posture. It is good to adopt a flexible erect posture rather than a stiff or slouching posture. An erect posture reveals confidence and poise. Drooping shoulders& sagging in the seat reveal a feeling of depression and lack of interest.

Head motion

In oral communication, the movement of the head plays an important role. Appropriate nods and shakes of the head enhance the level of communication.

Facial Expression

Face is the index of the mind. We say, ‘she put on a long face’ to mean that she was not in the best of her moods. However much one tries, his hidden feeling of anger, fear, confusion, uncertainty, enthusiasm and joy will get revealed by the facial expression.

Eye Contact

In an oral communication context, the speaker and listener should not only face each other but also maintain correct eye contact. If someone avoids direct eye contact, he is suspected to be sly or cunning. The Tamil poet Subramanya Bharathi has praised upright bearing and straight eye contact.

Gestures

Movement of hands and fingers enhance communication. But, gestures are culture specific. A clenched fist may mean emphasis for an American but disrespect for an Indian. A thumbs up sign, a movement of the index finger communicate messages effectively. Continuous gestures should be avoided. Non-verbal communication in short, adds, subtracts and amends our message. A “V” sign with index linger and central finger stands for victory. A thumbs up sign stands for hitch-hiking. A wave of the arm is for a ‘hello’ or a good-bye. These emblems directly stand for a verbal message. Certain gestures are illustrators for they illustrate a point. An arm can be used to draw a circle using the index finger shown with a little shake stands to emphasise a point as an illustrator.

Certain gestures made unconsciously will reveal the mental state of the speaker. Anger, fear, nervousness etc., are often revealed by fidgeting, shifting of legs etc., Twisting the shirt button or cuff-links, rubbing the neck-tie, scratching the cheek, nose, stroking the chin are some of the innumerable unconsciously acquired gestures.

Body language can be studied elaborately under kinesis which makes a scientific and analytic study of the subject. Oral communication takes place in face to face or one to one situation or when a speaker addresses an audience (in a group discussion or large in the case of some business meetings) In all these situations, body language plays an important role.

Musical ability or Musical Theory: According to this theory, language is believed to have developed from songs. This is because, the earliest man was said to have spoken a tonal language. The major proponent of this theory is Olto Jersperson(1922).

It was Darwin who first observed that some nonhuman primates and male singers birds competing with other conspecifics males produced musical ( i.e. rhetoric ) displays in order to advertise themselves to a conspecific female that they are best fitted for reproduction . Females then select the best males. Darwin called such choosing by females sexual selection. Humans might use their unique capacity for vocal imitation to reproduce musical calls with articulate sounds to express emotions Sexual selection resorts to colors in some animals and beard and voice in male humans.

Glossogenetics ---- A Scientific Approach :

During previous centuries and decades there has been serious scientific research for the origin of language. This study may be called glossogenetics - study of the formation and development of spoken language and focuses on a biological view of the origin of human language This theory specifies that language evolved at some points in the human development; the earliest men made transition to an upright position which gave them their bipedal locomotive (the two legs) with a revised role for the front limb. This branch of the science encompasses various other branches such as: sociobiology; linguistics; semiotics; palaeontology; anthropology; primatology; neurology; and, psychology.

Darwin’s biological answer on the origin of species in essence, was a lateral one: there is only an unending, infinitely complex, process of change and accommodation, leading to divergence of form and function over immense periods of time, with apparent separation of species in space and time produced by the disappearance of intermediate forms.

Physiological adaptation - according to Glassogenetics

Physiological Adaptation

Some of the physical aspects of humans that make the production of speech possible or easier are not comparable with other creatures through the process of evolution: 1) Human teeth are upright and roughly even in height that are exceedingly supportive in producing the sound of fricatives(f , v & th).

2) Human lips have an intricate muscle interlacing.3) The human mouth is relatively small, can be opened and closed rapidly 4) The human tongue is very flexible could be used in the production of sound.5) The pharynx is longer cavity than that of monkeys above the vocal cords can act as a resonator for

any sounds produced6). The human larynx (or ‘voice box’) is lower in position from apes as during the process of Evolution, it was assumed that an upright posture moved the head forward.

All of these theories do not explicitly explain how language originated, but linguists and anthropologists could agree on clear clues that our ancestors, Neanderthals(70k - 35k years), were able to produce a few consonant sounds and vowels sounds, which their predators Gorilla were not able to produce as it could be examined from their remains (skulls)dating back to about 60,000 B.C. The reconstructed Neanderthal skeleton dating about 35,000 years B.C. resembles the modern humans being, which indicates the approximate time of when the oral communication begun.

The development of primate vocal tracts into human vocal tracts that become capable of forming speech has been influenced by four major factors:

1. An erect posture has developed2. The head has moved forward3. The larynx has descended4. A flexible pharyngeal cavity has developed.

It should be noted that these developments allowed speech to develop but were not attributes that assisted breathing, chewing and swallowing. Humans can get choke from food getting lodged in their larynx, monkeys cannot! However, language was more important to the survival of the species and they were quite adaptable and smarter to be able to eatand breath. It is therefore a fundamental survival of the fittest of humans.

Some humans had vocal tracts similar to modern humans as far back as 200,000 years ago. The general agreement is that speech probably developed from 100k to 200k years ago. If the Neanderthal evidence is taken into consideration it is more probable that efficient speech developed some 30k to 50k years ago.

Figure 3.  Posterior view of the larynx opening into the pharynx (‘tube within a tube’).

Anatomy of Speech- Larynx (the voice box)

Thorpe commented (1967), it looks indeed as if the birds are the group which ought to have been able to evolve language in the true sense and not the mammals. If one is looking at the behaviour animal kingdom, put together, could have been used to construct human language,

mynah bird (Thorpe, 1967:19-20): ability to exactly produce human speech sounds parrot or mynah bird ability to imitate sound exactly (Thorpe, 1967) sparrow (Marler, 1976) or chaffinch (Marler and Peters, 1981): ability to learn vocal patterning from conspecifics

pigeon (Thorpe, 1979) or octopus (Sutherland, 1964): power to form concepts

bee: (von Frisch, 1967) ability to convey environmental information by patterned body activity budgerigar or elephant: memory

As information scientist Werner Gitt observed in his fascinating book, The Wonder of Man:

‘Only man has the gift of speech, a characteristic otherwise only possessed by God.  This separates us clearly from the animal kingdom ... In addition to the necessary “software” for speech, we have also been provided with the required “hardware”.

looking at the behaviour in the Animal Kingdom

a mynah bird can imitate human speech with astonishing exactness (even to reproducing a recognisably foreign accent in spoken English) (Thorpe, 1967),

sparrows form song-dialects passed down from generation to generation (Marler, 1976),

a bee can convey the correct direction of a honey-source allowing for wind drift (Russell and Russell, 1973),

a budgerigar was recorded as having learnt 8 nursery rhymes with a great deal of occasional poetry, telephone numbers and other items (Milner, 1973).

Thorpe suggests these behavioural achievements means that they have the neural patterning required to support the motor programs for the different types of performance. In the human being, evolution of the neural system, bringing together brain connections and brain programs which had appeared quite separately in other animals, could go to form the basis for spoken language capacityChomsky summed it up well when he stated: “Human language appears to be a unique phenomenon, without significant analogue in the animal world .”

The fundamental differences between animals and humans nevertheless is that unlike human children,

animals: (1) do not have a special region in the brain devoted to language;

(2) possess a much smaller brain overall; and

(3) lack the anatomy to speak the words they may think. animals do possess a measure of understanding.  They can learn to respond to commands and signs, and in some instances even can be trained to use minimal portions of human sign language.  As Oller and Omdahl pointed out: ‘One of the most remarkable missing elements in the pseudolinguistic behavior of the trained apes is that they don’t ask questions. They simply don’t seem to be able to understand what a question is.

Hence summarizing:The specific mechanics involved in speaking have anatomical requirements that are found primarily in humans (the exception being angels and also birds—although they produce sound differently).  There is no animal living presently, nor has one been observed in the fossil record, that possesses anything close to the ‘voice box’ (as we commonly call it) present in humans

Language and the Mind Revisited - The Biolinguistic Turn

Evolutionists frequently link the development of the brain to the appearance of languages to an enlarged brain unique to Homo sapiens.  Most of these theories involve humans growing bigger brains, which then made it physiologically possible for people to develop speech and language.  In the foreword of her book, The Seeds of Speech, Jean Aitchison hypothesized:

Thus, ‘Physically, a deprived physical environment led to a bigger brain The enlarged brain led to the premature birth of humans, and in consequence a protracted childhood, during which mothers cooed and crooned to their offspring.  An upright stance altered the shape of the mouth and vocal tract, allowing a range of coherent sounds to be uttered.’

Another evolutionist, John McCrone,approving Darwins theory of Evolution states that even though the world had slipped into the cold grip of the ice ages, man’s hominid ancestors had solved key problems that had held back the other branches of the ape family, such as how to find enough food to feed their rather oversized brains.  Then man’s ancestors happened on the trick of language.  Suddenly, ………..  Man became self-aware and self-possessed.’

During the course of human evolution brain size increased rapidly in a short period, bringing forth new species in existence Homo sapiens 50K years ago. The increase in mental power would have enabled the hominids to increase their vocabulary, and progress from one word statement to two word or even multiple word statements. Analyzing their remnants, the level of communication must have been low

The greatest step would have been the progression from this simplified pidgin like communication to a Creole like language with all the grammar and syntax of modern languages. Scholars believe that this step has been accomplished with some biological change to the brain such as a mutation of a gene -

FOXP2 may have allow humans to communicate, somewhere in Africa around 50,000 years ago,that has brought significant changes in lexicon of the Homo sapiens, and is also apparent in the fossil record too.

Linguistic research, combined with neurological studies, has determined that human speech is highly dependent on a neuronal network located in specific sites within the brain.  This intricate arrangement of neurons, and the anatomical components necessary for speech,

The Brain’s Language Centers The human brain is lateralized and has specialized functions in each of the two hemispheres. The functions that are analytic, such as tool-using and language, are largely confined to the left hemisphere of the brain for most humans. All languages require the organizing and combining of sounds or signs in specific constructions. The role of left frontal cortex of brain, is fundamental in the manipulation of these sounds and signs .

The ancient Greeks noticed that brain damage could cause the loss of the ability to speak (a condition known as aphasia). In 1861, Researchers like Paul Broca began noticing damage to left frontal cortex, ( named after him Broca’s area ) described

While patients with damage to this area can understand language, they generally are unable to produce speech because words are not formed properly, thus slurring their speech. In order to speak a word that has been read, information is obtained from the eyes and travels to the visual cortex.  From the primary visual cortex, information is transmitted to the posterior speech area (which includes Wernicke’s area).  From there, information travels to Broca’s area, and then to the primary motor cortex to provide the necessary muscle contractions to produce the sound. 

Figure 2.  Left hemisphere of human brain with language centers—Broca’s area and Wernicke’s area—highlighted.

Contact theory (Interactions and transactions): Human language is seen to have developed from the ability of man to associate and interact with other persons in creation. This ability helps him to aspire to speak language.

Chomsky says that first language learning begins spontaneously in the normal child, and that adults do not in any formal sense ‘teach’ or correct language. Children stubbornly learn to communicate in societies with an eagerness to express their ideas.

a) Interactions: All the above theories of origin of language are suggestive of use of language to interact with one another. Man’s physical weakness compelled him to get identified and organize himself in society for survival.

It’s our need socially or emotionally to converse.Our conversation indicate our friendliness, co-operation, hostility, annoyance, pain, pleasure through language. Its examples are daily life talks or conversation or It requires special skills like turn taking, interrupting, choosing the style, topic and length for conversation, joking, explaining, describing or convincing concluding.

b) Transactions: It is the function of language where the focus is the transfer or exchange of information or knowledge, i.e. conveying and receiving the message the message. In today’s world, if it’s a telephonic data collection or if a surgery the team exchanges the information or during a battle commanding military aircrafts, interactions play an important role.

another type is It may be a group discussion or problemsolving e.g. a conference or an interview or a debate. Skills of the language needed are informing, interviewing, questioning, agreeing or disagreeing, negotiating, argumenting, confirming, clarifying and justifying.

IDEAS  and  WORDSlanguage can also be regarded as a means of expressing a single individual’s ideas, This aspect was stressed in the nineteenth century, that the ideas are impossible without the words. because the verbal expression requires ideas and thinking, Philosophers have often written articles on the relationship between thought and language, in an attempt to unravel the mechanisms of language production. Some connection is made between processes of thought and processes of speech. The study of language is really the study of mind, as shown in Figure 1.

Figure 1. A representation of the two stages we might call

communicating and understanding.

“Language and thought are forms of behaviour which have developed together.”

  LANGUAGE  and  SOCIAL LIFE

It can’t be proven that language is as old as humans but it is definitely true that language and human society are inseparable.  Wherever humans exist language exists. 

In fact, in the Atlas of Languages, this remarkable admission can be found:  ‘No languageless community has ever been found’.

Man’s physical weakness compelled him to organize himself in society or perish

with inevitable division of labour, restraint and adaptation to the movements of other team members. It is in co-operating for a given purpose, in sharing a task, that the attention of one individual can be in the actions of his fellow. This interest will tend to stimulate in him the wish to interfere, to correct, to guide, and by whatever means, there is already the beginning of language.

Köhler’s study found that these chimpanzees would together drag a box too heavy for a single animal to move so as to position it under suspended fruit.

The relatively large size of human social groups, as compared with those of non-human primates, is also something that has necessitated increased co-operation, and is today known as having in itself provoked the development of spoken language.

CONCLUSION

This study of origin of languages has expanded our understanding on how language has really emerged

Summing up all the above

‘there are no non-human languages,’ . Animals do communicate but we are unable to understand their tongue.

Language originated to meet the needs of the users, whether social, psychological or any other need. It is believed that before any script was developed the humans were able to communicate among

themselves. we observed that ‘language is an adaptation unique to humans, and yet the nature of its

uniqueness and its biological basis are difficult to define’. Ultimately there is no full proof or scientific evidence showing the origin of languages, but still

there are several assumption which shows that languages evolved with the evolution . Researches are still doing a lot of investigation in this area of linguistic and we are hoping to find

more about the birth of languages. However many questions remain unanswered. If they can be answered at all, it is to be expected that the main questions of language origins will be fixed in a non distant future

“The question of where language comes from may simply be unanswerable.”

- Richard Lewontin.

Personal comments (the theory and me)

I truly believe that

Humans are capable of communicating in human language because God created them with the ability to do so! 

While studying the theories and researches, I came across a comment that touched my heart which is also in accordance with Quran:

The Bible offers the only plausible explanation for the origin of human language when it records: ‘Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness;” ... So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him;

(Genesis 1:26-27).

This likeness unquestionably included the ability to engage in intelligible speech via human language.  In fact, God spoke to us from the very beginning of our existence as humans. So, we possessed the ability to understand verbal communication—and to speak ourselves. Hence, we should thank Him, abide by Him and bow before Him only(as I have quoted Ayat-e-Qurani in the preamble of this assignment.)

YAsmeenAZizjaffer

References

The Origin of Language Linguistics - The origin of human language » Angielski online www.tlumaczenia-angielski.info/ linguistics / origin .ht

ABSTRACT The Origin of Language

By CHARLES V. TAYLOR

CEN Tech. J., vol. 11, no. 1, 1997

creation.com/images/pdfs/tj/j11_1/j11_1_76-81.pdf

Figure 2.  Left hemisphere of human brain with language centers—Broca’s area and Wernicke’s area—highlighted.

The Origin of Languagefaculty.ksu.edu.sa/72560/.../The%20Origin%20of%20Languag1.do

Languages :: Origins :: Glossogenetics

hubpages.com/hub/Languages-Origins

Origin of Languageezinearticles.com › Reference and Education › Languages

The Origin of Language and Communication www.true origin .org/ language 01.asp

Teaching Listening and Speaking

www.cambridge.org/other.../Richards-Teaching-Listening- Speaking .pdf

LANGUAGE ORIGINS : A REVIEW OF RECENT RESEARCH 1 Ángel Alonso-Cortés Departamento de Lingüística, UCM. This work is part of the research project A Aspectos evolutivos y tipológicos de la complejidad lingüística: estudio crítico A headed by Juan Carlos Moreno Cabrera, UAM, and funded by Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia, Madrid, Spain. This review will be published in 2007 by Revista de Libros, de la Fundación Caja Madrid, Spain

www.ucm.es/eprints/5932/01/LANGUAGE_ORIGINS._A_REVIEW...

UNDERSTANDING THE ORIGIN AND

NATURE OF LANGUAGE

By TEMITOPE ABIODUN B. artslasu.org/publications/contents/vol4/3/temitope

theory of a gestural origin of language - THE BRAIN FROM TOP TO BOTTOM

thebrain.mcgill.ca/flash/d/d_10/d.../d_10_s_lan.html

Origin of Language by G.A.Wellswww.lingua.org.uk/ origin .html

Body Language | Communication Theory communicationtheory.org/body-language/comment-page-1/Figure 4.  The complex design and multiple components necessary for speech argue strongly against an evolutionary origin

The Origin of Languagepandora.cii.wwu.edu/vajda/ling201/.../origin_of_language.htm

ORIGIN OF LANGUAGE : THE GENERAL PROBLEM

By Index Robin Allott

fontenouille.free.fr/language/ORIGIN%20OF%20LANGUAGE%20THE%20GENERAL%20PRO.