Lecture 2 - origins of language Flashcards
What kind of speculative theories exist trying to explain why language developed?
Divine Natural social interaction physical adaption tool-making/signing genetic
Explain the divine source theory
- Language is God given
Theory that God/the gods gave mankind language (e.g. the Egyptians believed Thoth gave language; for Hindus the wife of Brahma, Sarasvati)
If that is true, children should be able to speak without being talked to
-> two famous ancient/early/ legendary pseudo-experiments:
1) ‘myth’ of Egyptian pharaoh Psamtik: two new-born babies brought up in contact with only mute shepherd and his goatsàuttered something similar to Phrygian word bekos (“bread”)
• most likely imitation of goats
2) King James the 4th of Scotland similar experiment 1500 AD
-> believed that Hebrew was the language of the garden of Eden after isolating children for a while
Explain natural sounds as a source
- theory based on the concept of natural iconic sounds
1) Jespersen’s “bow-wow” theory: humans tried to imitate onomatopoeia of animals/objects that were close by and then referred to these things when they were not present
- > e.g. woo-woof in the case of dogs
2) Jespersen’s / Rousseau’s “pooh-pooh” theory: humans utter instinctive sounds in emotional states like ouch!
- > Assumption that these expressions started language
Explain the social interaction source
language due to need for communication when working together (during physical/manual labor)
• initially: grunts, groans, curses etc
-> “ye-ho-ho” or “hau-ruck” theory
Explain the physical adaption source
Theory that looks at the physical features that humans developed which may have supported speech production:
- > teeth & lips
- > mouth & tongue
- > larynx & pharynx
-> parts of oral cavity became more intricate and thus could be controlled more precisely
Explain the tool-making source
Theory which looks at the cognitive features that humans developed, which may have supported speech production:
1) Theory that when we started walking upright our hands were free to ‘do things’, among others to use tools and to sign; tool use is cognitively challenging which is why the human brain and its complexity increased -> cognitive abilities improved (memorization, abstraction, …)
2) it might also be possible that people started signing / sign language first
Explain the genetic source
Theory which says that at one point in time a species-specific, genetic mutation must have happened
- > aptitude to acquire languages “hard-wired” into humans at birth
- > innateness hypothesis
Explain the innateness hypothesis/linguistic nativism
Despite the complexity of human language, children are able to accurately acquire a language within a short period of time.
Research has shown that language acquisition among children (including the blind and the deaf) occurs in ordered developmental stages.
-> highlights the possibility of humans having an innate language acquisition ability (a so-called Language Acquisition Device; Universal Grammar).
Explain the idea of Universal Grammar and who was the most famous linguist?
- idea that all humans have a predisposition (“Language Acquisition Device”) towards certain basic principles of language
- leads to assumption that all languages shares same underlying principles regarding grammar which make it possible for all humans to acquire any language from birth
Most famous linguist Noam Chomsky (*7.12.1928)
-> MIT emeritus professor
By whom is Chomsky’s view that the human faculty of language is innate affirmed?
Steven Pinker
- > argue that language in humans is a biological adaptation, possibly related to a beneficial mutation (gene FOXP2)
- > However, careful genetic studies show there is no single mutation responsible for language.
- > No doubt many genes affect linguistic ability, but no solution for language evolution so far!
