THE ORIGIN OF LANGUAGE 1

The Origin of Language

Muhammad Khalid Mehmood

Department of English Linguistic, The Islamia University Bahawalpur
ENG-33101-34267: General Linguistics
Dr. Bushra Shaukat

July 31, 2021

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Table of Contents
THE ORIGIN OF LANGUAGE.................................................................................3

THE DIVINE SOURCES...............................................................................................3

THE NATURAL SOUND SOURCE................................................................................3

THE “BOW-WOW” THEORY.....................................................................................3

THE “POOH-POOH” THEORY...................................................................................4

THE SOCIAL INTERACTION SOURCE “YO-HE-HO” THEORY...................................4

THE PHYSICAL ADAPTATION SOURCE.....................................................................4

TEETH AND LIPS........................................................................................................4

MOUTH AND TONGUE...............................................................................................4

LARYNX AND PHARYNX............................................................................................5

THE TOOL-MAKING SOURCE...................................................................................5

SWISS ARMY KNIFE...................................................................................................5

AUNTIE MAGGIE'S REMEDY.....................................................................................6

THE GENETIC SOURCE.............................................................................................6

THE INNATENESS HYPOTHESIS................................................................................6

THE PIECES OF THE PUZZLE.....................................................................................7

THE AMOEBA QUESTIONS.........................................................................................7

THE RABBIT-OUT-OF-A-HAT PROBLEM....................................................................7

REFERENCES.............................................................................................................8
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The Origin of language

The Divine Sources

In the scriptural practice, as portrayed in the book of Genesis, God made Adam and

"at all Adam considered each living animal that was the name thereof. Noah's Ark see that

Chinese was perhaps the crude language of mankind. It was spoken by Noah and his family

in the Ark, thus endure the flood. Another perspective on James Burnett Lord Monboddo, an

English blue-blood, who in 1773 distributed a book in six volumes on the beginning and

progress of language. He kept up with that people figured out how to turn and weave from

insects, how to develop dams from beavers, and how to sing and talk from birds. The cuckoo,

the raven and the parrot, he noted, created practically in order sounds Hindu custom, it is

Sarasvati, spouse of Brahma, who is attributed with carrying language to humankind. In

many religions, there gives off an impression of being a heavenly source that gives people

language.

The Natural Sound Source

A quite different view of the beginnings of language is based on the concept of

natural sounds. The human auditory system is already functioning before birth.

The “Bow-Wow” Theory

In this scenario, when different objects flew by, making a C AW- C AW or COO
-COO sound, the early human tried to imitate the sounds and then used them to refer to those
objects even when they weren’t present. The way that all cutting edge dialects have a few
words with articulations that appear to repeat normally happening sounds could be utilized to
help this hypothesis.In English cuckoo, we have splash, bang, boom, rattle, buzz, hiss,
screech and of course bow-wow.
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The “Pooh-Pooh” Theory

Another of Jespersen’s nicknames was the “pooh-pooh” theory, which proposed that
speech developed from the instinctive sounds people make in emotional circumstances. That
is, the original sounds of language may have come from natural cries of emotion such as pain,
anger, and joy.

The Social Interaction Source “yo-he-ho” theory.

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 the
interaction had to be coordinated. So, a group of early humans might develop a set of hums,
grunts, groans, and curses that were used when they were lifting and carrying large bits of
trees or lifeless hairy mammoths.

The Physical Adaptation Source

Instead of looking at types of sounds as the source of human speech, we can look at
the types of physical features humans possess, especially those that may have supported
speech production these are good clues that a creature with such features probably has the
capacity for speech.

Teeth and Lips

Human teeth are upright, not slanting outwards like those of apes, and they are
roughly even in height. They are also much smaller. Such characteristics are not very useful
for ripping or tearing food and seem better adapted for grinding and chewing. They are also
very helpful in making sounds such as f or v. Human lips have much more intricate muscle
interlacing than is found in other primates and their resulting flexibility certainly helps in
making sounds like p, b and m.

Mouth and Tongue

The human mouth is moderately little contrasted with different primates and can be

opened and shut quickly. It is likewise important for an all-inclusive vocal parcel that has a

greater amount of a L-shape than the straightway from front to move in different vertebrates.

Rather than the genuinely slight level tongue of other enormous primates, people have a more

limited, thicker and more solid tongue that can be utilized to shape a wide assortment of
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sounds inside the oral pit. Furthermore, in contrast to different primates, people can shut off

the aviation route through the nose to make more gaseous tension in the mouth.

Larynx and Pharynx

The human larynx or “voice box” (containing the vocal folds) differs significantly in
position from the larynx of other primates such as monkeys. During human physical
development, the assumption of an upright posture moved the head more directly above the
spinal column and the larynx dropped to a lower position. This created a longer cavity called
the pharynx, above the vocal folds, which acts as a resonator for increased range and clarity
of the sounds produced via the larynx. Other primates have almost no pharynx. One
unfortunate consequence of this development is that the lower position of the human larynx
makes it much more possible for the human to choke on pieces of food. Monkeys may not be
able to use their larynx to produce speech sounds, but they do not suffer from the problem of
getting food stuck in their windpipe. In evolutionary terms, there must have been a big
advantage in getting this extra vocal power (i.e., a larger range of sounds) to outweigh the
potential disadvantage from an increased risk of choking to death.

The Tool-Making Source

In the physical adaptation view, one function (producing speech sounds) must have
been superimposed on existing anatomical features (teeth, lips) previously used for other
purposes (chewing, sucking). A similar development is believed to have taken place with
human hands and some believe that manual gestures may have been a precursor of language.

Swiss army knife

A 'Swiss army knife' view proposes a specialized linguistic system, which allows
variation. An Auntie Maggie's remedy' viewpoint suggests that languages vary because they
are a product of human general intelligence. Swiss army knife supporters argue that the
human mind resembles a gadget which incorporates numerous specialized devices, each of
which has its own special task: a corkscrew uncorks bottles, a knife cuts, and a file smooth
off rough edges, and so on According to this view, humans acquire language by utilizing a
dedicated language-handling mechanism. Languages differ because a degree of flexibility is
built into the system.
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Auntie Maggie's remedy

Auntie Maggie's remedy supporters, on the other hand, regard the human mind as
amulet-purpose reasoning device which can handle numerous different tasks. It resembles the
powerful cure-all which treats all ailments in the old music-hall song: It's my Auntie
Maggie's home-made remedy, guaranteed never to fail. The Human Brain The human brain is
not only large relative to human body size, but also lateralized, that is, it has specialized
functions in each of the two hemispheres.

If we think in terms of the most basic process involved in primitive tool making, it is
not enough to be able to grasp one rock (make one sound); the human must also bring another
rock (other sounds) into contact with the first in order to develop a tool. In terms of language
structure, the human may have first developed a naming ability by consistently using one
type of noise.

The Genetic Source

The human mouth is moderately little contrasted with different primates and can be

opened and shut quickly. It is likewise important for an all-inclusive vocal parcel that has a

greater amount of a L-shape than the straightway from front to move in different vertebrates.

Rather than the genuinely slight level tongue of other enormous primates, people have a more

limited, thicker and more solid tongue that can be utilized to shape a wide assortment of

sounds inside the oral pit. Furthermore, in contrast to different primates, people can shut off

the aviation route through the nose to make more gaseous tension in the mouth.

The Innateness Hypothesis

The human mouth is moderately little contrasted with different primates and can be
opened and shut quickly. It is likewise important for an all-inclusive vocal parcel that has a
greater amount of a L-shape than the straight way from front to move in different vertebrates.
Rather than the genuinely slight level tongue of other enormous primates, people have a more
limited, thicker and more solid tongue that can be utilized to shape a wide assortment of
sounds inside the oral pit. Furthermore, in contrast to different primates, people can shut off
the aviation route through the nose to make more gaseous tension in the mouth. (e.g., being
pre-programmed or hard-wired) and concepts taken from the study of biology and genetics.
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The pieces of the puzzle

The origin of language is like a vast prehistoric jigsaw puzzle, in which numerous
fragments of evidence must be painstakingly assembled. The pieces of the language puzzle
are of two main types, external (non-linguistic), and internal (linguistic), that is clues from
outside human language on the one hand, and information gleaned from languages on the
other hand.

The amoeba questions

The best-known nineteenth-century theories about language origin took the amoeba
viewpoint. The so-called 'pooh-pooh' theory traced language back to instinctive cries of pain
or joy, perhaps 'Ooh!', 'Ee!', 'Ah!' The 'bow-wow' theory assumed that the noises of animals
were all-important, as ancient hunters imitated the growls and squeaks of a beasthey planned
to track down. The Rousseau proposed, 'and that is why the first languages were singable and
passionate before they became simple and methodical'.

The rabbit-out-of-a-hat problem

The rabbit-out-of-a-hat problem links in with the amoeba question. According to one
view, language emerged suddenly, like a rabbit pulled out of a hat. Reasons for this viewpoint
differ. Some propose a remarkable mutation in the early hominid gene pool, others suggest
that an already enlarged brain found itself an extra use: 'Such a conception of language
emergence is reminiscent of the Roman myth, where Minerva sprang forth from the head of
Jupiter, fully armed and wonderfully wise', it has been suggested.

In contrast, others assume that language evolved slowly and piecemeal, over multiple
millennia, like a mosaic being painstakingly assembled out of various bits and pieces.
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References

Aitchison, J. (2000) The Seeds of Speech (Canto edition) Cambridge University Press

Kenneally, C. (2007) The First Word Viking Press

Gibson, K. and T. Ingold (eds.) (1993) Tools, Language and Cognition in Human
Evolution Cambridge University Press

Moskowitz, B. (1991) “The acquisition of language” In W. Wang (ed.) The

Emergence of Language (131–149) W. H. Freeman