The origins of language

A speculation !

 The genesis of language is not to be sought in the prosaic, but in the poetic side of
life; the source of speech is not gloomy seriousness, but marry play and youthful
hilarity… in primitive speech I hear the laughing cries of exultation, when
everybody sang his merriest and danced his bravest to lure a pair of eyes to throw
admiring glances in his direction .
Otto Jespersen (1921)
1. The divine Source

 Genesis
 Hindu tradition ,Wife of Brahma
 God given lang.
 Experiments
 Egyptian Pharoh, Psammetichus
 James IV of Scotland
2. The natural-sound source

 Bow-wow theory- from surroundings

 Yo heave ho theory- through physical exertion
 Pooh Pooh theory- through emotions
3. The oral-gesture source

 Link between physical gesture and orally produced sounds.

 Nonverbal communication
 Originally a set of physical gestures was developed
 Sir Richard Paget: a specialized pantomime of tongue and lips
4. Glossogenetics

 Biological basis of the formation and development of human language

 Physical differences between the skull of gorilla and Neanderthal man
from around 60,000 BC.
 Evolutionary development
5. Physiological adaptation

 Teeth
 Lips
 Mouth
 Tongue
 Larynx
 Pharynx
 Brain
6. Interactions and Transactions

 Interactional functions
 Transactional functions