Third Stage/ Linguistics

Chapter One

Third lecture

Study questions
1. What is the basic idea behind the ‘bow-wow’ theory of language
origin?

Primitive words could have been imitations of the natural sounds that

early humans heard around them and all modern languages have words

that are onomatopoeic (like bow-wow).

2. Why are interjections such as Ouch! considered to be unlikely

sources of human speech sounds?

Interjections contain sounds that are not otherwise used in ordinary

speech production. They are usually produced with sudden intakes of

breath, which is the opposite of ordinary talk, produced on exhaled

breath.

3. What special features of human teeth make them useful in the

production of speech sounds?

Human teeth are upright, not slanting outwards like those of apes, and

they are roughly even in height.

4. Where is the pharynx and how did it become an important part of

human sound production?

The pharynx is above the larynx (or the voice box or the vocal cords).

When the larynx moved lower, the pharynx became longer and acted as a
resonator, resulting in increased range and clarity of sounds produced via

the larynx.

5. Why do you think that young deaf children who become fluent in
sign language would be cited in support of the innateness hypothesis?

. If these deaf children do not develop speech first, then their language
ability would not seem to depend on those physical adaptations of the
teeth, larynx, etc., that are involved in speaking. If all children (including
those born deaf) can acquire language at about the same time, they must
be born with a special capacity to do so. The conclusion is that it must be
innate and hence genetically determined.