The Origin of Language

The Origin of Language

Introduction:

           The language has developed through the use of a lot of symbols and pictorials; one should always remember that language is primarily spoken in nature. Whatever we have as proof is in the form of various kinds of readings. Today it would have been quite impossible for us to know about language of the people spoken during that time, if writing and printing would not have been there.

Language development:

          Another reason of the continuous development of language is that, it is evolutionary in nature. Language can never be static. For example Chaucer's English in 14th century and Shakespeare's English in the Elizabethan age is very different from the modern English written and the post modern English today. In spite of the facts that the evolution of languages is obvious, it would be very difficult to completely change the language, as now, the pattern of language is fixed and therefore radically changing the entire meaning of the word would became very difficult.

Human and language

    

        Important aspect of language origin is that it is perhaps the only characteristic that differentiates humans from animals. It is believed that every race has a language of its own and as a result, right from the utterance of a word to its recognition, everything is associated to the development of one's mind.

   

        It is a matter of dispute that how did the language really come into existence for which there are multiple theories to pass judgement upon it. 

     

1. The bow-wow theory:

        Through this theory it is believed that vocabulary developed from limitations of various speech sounds for example every child would recognize the animals by its sound, and as a result would start calling it through that name. These sounds developed through words or onomatopoetic, for example, splash, cuckoo, bow - wow, bang etc.

2. The ding- dong theory:

      This theory is associated with the German scholar Max Muller. This theory believes that the beginning of the language is to be associated with a sense of rhythm, which is one of the primary qualities in the humans. Once we associate rhythm with anything that we speak, the language would naturally develop.

3. The pooh - pooh theory:

       In this theory, we came across the fact that the idea of speech is directly proportioned to our automatic vocal responses related to fear, surprise, pleasure, pain etc. and as a result language is supposed to be an instant response to emotions that we feel.

4. The gesture theory:

       In the book "Human Speech" it is widely discussed that the earliest method of communication was through gestures and as a result, every gesture was indirectly associated to the movement of lips and tongue, and this is how gestures were given words which came to be known as verbal language later on.

5. The yo - he - ho theory:

      The idea that speech started with rhythm and it later on co-ordinated with physical actions is acceptable, but there is a lot of difference between the gestures we use and the words we speak, these kinds of theories believed that language involved from the grunts, groans and snorts evoked by heavy physical labour.

Conclusion:

       After taking a look at all these theories, which regard to the origin of language, we can say that no theory individually can take the credit for the origin of language. Every theory is incomplete in its own way, and all of them are in the form of hypothesis. All the linguists tried their best to look into how the language descended. We as observers can conclude that the theories in combination may prove a point that in isolation they create dissatisfaction.