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Chapter 1: The Origins of Language
CONTENT
The Divine Source
The Natural Source
The Social Interaction Source
The Physical Adaptation Source
The Tool-Making Source
The Genetic Source
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The Divine Source
Divine /dɪˈvaɪn/ (adj.): connected with a god
Religion /rɪˈlɪdʒ.ən/ (n.) the belief in and worship of a god or gods.
genesis; Genesis /ˈdʒen.ə.sɪs/ (n.): the origin of something, when it is
begun or starts to exist; the first book of the Bible, which describes how
God mode the world.
Questions:
According to the book of Genesis, who named everything?
What is another example from the other religion?
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The Divine Source: The origins of
language
Two examples:
The book of Genesis: Adam
Hindu tradition: Sarasvati, wife of Brahma
God-given language
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The Divine Sound
Hypothesis:
if human infants were allowed to grow up without hearing any
language around them, then they would spontaneously begin
using the original God-given language.
• Two experiments:
- The Greek writer Herodotus:
e.g: The Phrygian word bekos bread
- King James the Fourth of Scotland:
e.g: Hebrew the language of Garden of Eden
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The Divine Source
More evidence:
The Mogul emperor Akbar the Great
The real-world outcome
Victor, the wild boy of Aveyron in France
There is no ‘spontaneous’ language.
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The Natural Sound Source
Auditory /ˈɔː.dɪ.tər.i/ (a.): of or about hearing
Auditory system
The ability to identify sounds in the environment humans can
make a connection between a sound and the thing that produces
that sound.
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The Natural Sound Source
The suggestion is that primitive words could have been
imitations of the natural sounds which early men
and women heard around them.
The human auditory system is already functioning
before birth (at around 7 months)
*primitive /ˈprɪm·ɪ·t̬ɪv/ (a.) of an early stage of development
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Bow-wow or Pooh-pooh Theory?
1. Speech developed from the instinctive sounds people make in
emotional circumstances; or the original sounds of language
may have come from natural cries of emotion such as pain,
anger and joy.
2. The early human tried to imitate the sounds and then used
them to refer to those objects even when they weren’t present.
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The Natural Sound Source
Two theories
1. The “Bow-Wow” Theory
onomatopoeia: words that sound similar
to the noises
e.g: cuckoo = splash, bang, boom, rattle, buzz,
bow-wow
2. The “Pooh-Pooh” Theory
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The Natural Sound Source
2. The “Pooh-Pooh” Theory
early human speech developed from the instinctive
sounds people make in emotional circumstances (e.g:
pain, anger, joy)
e.g: Ouch! ; Ah! ; Ooh!; Phew! ; Wow!; Yuck!
*instinctive /ɪnˈstɪŋk.tɪv/ (a.): of actions or behaviors, not thought about,
planned, or learned
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The Social Interaction Source
“Yo-he-ho” theory
The sound of a person involved in ____________by several
people and the interaction had to be ___________.
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The Social Interaction Source
“Yo-he-ho” theory
The sound of a person involved in physical effort by several people and
the interaction had to be coordinated.
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.
Apes and other primates live in social groups and use grunts and
social calls, but they have not developed the capacity for speech .
The uses of the sounds > < the origins of the sounds produced
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The Physical Adaption Source
Four-legged creatures: The rhythm of breathing is closely linked to the
rhythm of walking (one pace – one breath relationship)
Two-legged creatures: the rhythm of breathing is not tied to the rhythm
of walking, allowing long articulations on outgoing breath, with short in-
breaths
Human breathing while walking consists of: 90%: exhalation; 10%: quick
in-breaths
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The Physical Adaption Source
The rhythm of breathing is closely linked to the rhythm of walking (one
pace – one breath relationship)
Breathing while walking consists of:
• 90%: exhalation
• 10%: quick in-breaths
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The Physical Adaption Source
Evidence for physical changes:
The reconstructed vocal tract of a Neanderthal man (60,000 years
ago)
Features in fossilized skeletal structures that resemble those of
modern humans (35,000 years ago)
Such features would not guarantee speech, but they are good clues
that a creature with such features probably has the capacity for speech.
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The Physical Adaption Source
Teeth and Lips
Mouth and Tongue
Larynx and Pharynx
• Larynx:
the part of the throat that contains the vocal folds, also
called the voice box
• Pharynx:
the area inside the throat above the larynx
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Stop and check: True/False
1. For four-legged creatures, the rhythm of breathing is not closely linked to
the rhythm of walking.
2. Human breathing while walking consists of 90% inhalation and 10% quick
in-breaths.
3. Pharynx is the area inside the throat above the larynx.
4. Like primates, humans mouth have thin flat tongue.
5. Unlike other primates, humans can close off the airway through the nose
to create more air pressure in the mouth.
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The Tool-Making Source
The Human Brain
lateralized: has specialized functions in each of the two
hemispheres
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The Genetic Source
The Innateness Hypothesis
The idea that humans are genetically equipped to
acquire language
OR
human offspring are born with a special capacity for
language
e.g: a deaf child can become a fluent sign language
user.
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Homework
Study questions
Tasks
Discussion Topics/Projects
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