Origin of Language Theories

• Some type of spoken language likely developed between 100,000 and 50,000 years ago

• Written language developed around 5,000 years ago

• There is a lack of direct evidence of early human speech, resulting in speculation about its origins

Theories of the Origin of Language

• The divine source theory
• The natural source theory
• The social interaction source theory
• The physical adaptation source theory
• The tool-making source theory
• The genetic source theory

The Divine Source Theory

• God created Adam and allowed him to name every living creature in the Book of Genesis.

• In Hindu tradition, language originated from Sarasvati, the wife of Brahma, the creator of the universe.

• Human infants, if raised without exposure to any language, would spontaneously use the original God-given language, according to the basic hypothesis.

Experiments on Divine Source

• Egyptian pharaoh Psammetichus (600 B.C) isolated two newborns except for goats and a mute shepherd.

  • After two years, the children spoke a Phrygian word "bekos" (meaning bread).

• James IV of Scotland conducted a similar experiment around 1500.

  • The children were reported to speak Hebrew, which confirmed the king's belief that it was the language of the Garden of Eden.
  • When children grow up without access to language, they do not develop any language at all.

The Natural Source

• Language is based on natural sounds
• Humans can identify sounds in the environment, connecting the sounds to their source
• Primitive words derive from the imitation of natural sounds
• Jespersen (1922) termed this idea "bow-wow" theory

Bow-Wow Theory

• Early human speech developed from imitating natural sounds:
  • buzz
  • bang
  • boom
  • rattle
• Onomatopoeia: Words contain sounds similar to the noises they describe, like "bang" and "cuckoo".

Criticism of Natural Sound Source

• How would soundless things and abstract concepts have been named?
• Language is more than just a set of names

The Pooh-Pooh Theory

• Speech developed from instinctive sounds made in emotional circumstances:
  • Ouch!
  • Ahh!
  • Ooh!
  • Phew!

Criticism of Pooh-Pooh Theory

• Emotional reactions aren't used in speech production
• These sounds are produced with sudden inhalations

The Social Interaction Source

• Yo-he-ho theory: The sounds of people involved in physical effort could be the source of language.
• Language arose from coordinated, rhythmical grunts during physical labor (yo-he-ho theory).
• Early humans developed grunts, groans, and curses to lift and carry heavy objects like trees and mammoths.
• Early humans lived in groups that required organization and communication, language developed in a social context.

Criticism of The Social Interaction Source

• Apes and other primates live in groups and use grunts without developing speech

Physical Adaptation Source

• Human physical features give good clues for their capacity for speech:

  • Upright, even teeth are helpful in making sounds like "f" and "v".
  • Flexible human lips are needed for sounds like "p", "b", and "w".
  • The mouth and tongue can open and close rapidly.
  • An L-shaped extended vocal tract with a shorter, thicker tongue to shape a wide variety of sounds inside the oral cavity.

• Larynx: The part of the throat that contains the vocal folds/voicebox

• Pharynx: The area inside the throat above the larynx

Criticism of The Physical Adaptation Source

• Certain birds and parrots can also produce a wide variety of sounds

Tool-Making Source Theory

• Humans developed preferential right-handedness and the ability to make stone tools
• Wood tools and composite tools eventually followed

Brain Lateralization

• The human brain is large relative to body size with specialized functions in each hemisphere
• Motor movements:
  • Complex vocalization/speaking
  • Object manipulation/tool use
• The left hemisphere of the brain includes:
  • analytical processing
  • tool use
  • language
• The right hemisphere of the brain includes:
  • holistic thought processes
  • music
  • visuo-spatial skills

Genetic Source Theory

• The first few years of a human baby's life are a living example of physical changes taking place.

  • At birth, the baby's brain is only a quarter of its eventual weight
  • At birth the larynx is higher in the throat, allowing them to breathe and drink at the same time.
  • Over time, the larynx descends, the brain develops, and the child assumes an upright posture, talks, and walks.

• Human offspring are born with a special capacity for language and it is innate.

• Even children who are born deaf become fluent sign language users in appropriate circumstances.

• Human babies have an innate capacity for language and something in human genetics makes human language possible.

• Innateness hypothesis: Are human babies born with a 'language gene'?