Presented by:

Avinash Singh Bagri (2009MT50541)

UG Student, Mathematics and Computing Department,

IIT Delhi

By age four, most humans develop an ability to communicate through oral language

By age six or seven, most humans can comprehend, as well as express, written thoughts

These unique abilities of communicating through a native language clearly separate humans from all animals

The obvious question then arises, where did we obtain this distinctive trait?

The origin of language, in linguistics is known as glottogony

Refers to the acquisition of the ability to use language by an earlier stage in the evolution of mankind

Presumes that Homo sapiens evolved from some non-human ancestor who did not possess language capabilities

Anthropological/ Linguistics’ Hypothesis1. Thoughts of Various Linguists2. Contrasting Theories

Mythical BeliefsMany societies throughout history believed that language is the gift of the gods to humans.

The body movements preceded language.  Language began as an unconscious vocal imitation of these movements

It can't be proven that language is as old as humans, but it is definitely true that language and human society are inseparable

Charles Darwin stated that as far as concerns language, “Shakespeare walks with the Macedonian swineherd, and Plato with the wild savage of Assam.”

He indicates about the complexities of the languages

Language comes into existence suddenly as a mutation so it is not very important to talk about

One inherits it by default or natural law

Origin can’t really be known

Syntactic structure is key

Noam ChomskyA linguist and Professor Emeritus of Linguistics  at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Language as an innate faculty of mind

Humans have a common universal grammar

Language is an "instinct" or biological adaptation shaped by natural selection

Steven Arthur Pinker is a prominent psychologist, Professor in the Deptt. of Psychology at Harvard University

According to D. Bickerton, “The origin of Language seemed to many, a paradox.”

D. Bickerton suggested that the language was first and foremost a system of representation

To find out how language, with all its complexities, evolved, it is necessary to look at how systems of representation evolved

Dr. Derek BickertonA linguist and Professor Emeritus at the University of Hawaii, Manoa

The origin of multiple human languages is provided in the Tower of Babel

Following a Great Flood Noah and his family stepped off the ark and spoke one language and passed it on further

The Babel account suggests that several languages came into existence as a miraculous intervention by the God “Yahweh”

The Tower of Babel

Like few other mythologies they also talk of a Great Flood

Certain Native American

tribes tell of a deluge which came over the Earth and submerged every part of it

After the water subsides, various explanations are given for the new diversity in speech

Doré's “The Deluge”. Man and beast take refuge on an isolated rock during the Great Flood, a feature of creation myths from around the world

Only a man, Coxcox, and a woman, Xochiquetzal, survived

 They begot many children who were at first born unable to speak

But later were gifted with language by a dove

Each one was given a different speech such that they could not understand one another

A similar flood is described by the Kaska people from North America

Before the flood, there was all but one centre and spoke one language

There are many different centres of population, the many tribes and the many languages

They did not know where the other people lived. Long afterwards, they discovered there are others who speak other languages

In Ancient Greece myth Zeus ruled men for ages and they spoke one language

The god Hermes brought diversity in speech and along with it separation into nations and discord ensued

In Norse mythology, the faculty of speech is a gift from the third son of Borr, who gave also hearing and sight

In Hindu and Vedic mythology, Saraswati Ji also referred as Vac is the goddess of language, writing and writing-systems

She is the source of voice

Created Vedic Sanskrit, one of the oldest languages

As per Hindu mythology the creator god Bramha brought about the differences in language

The Knowledge tree which gave shelter to all humans and prevented from sepration

To punish the pride of a tree, he cut off its branches which resulted in dispersion of people and distinction in languages

In South Australia, people of Encounter Bay tell a story of how diversity in language came about from cannibalism:

In remote time an old woman, named Wurruri lived towards the east and generally walked with a large stick in her hand, to scatter the fires around which others were sleeping

When Wurruri at length died, people from different parts of Australia revelled and feasted on her flesh

Another group of Australian aboriginals, the Gunwinggu, tell of a goddess in dreamtime giving each of her children a language of their own to play with

Language is given by the god Pūluga to the first man and woman at their union following a great deluge

The language given was called bojig-yâb

According to the inhabitants it is the "mother tongue" from which all other languages have been made

Their beliefs hold that even before the death of the first man

Puluga provided each of his offspring with a different language when they left for different parts of country

We discussed about two theories/ hypothesis/ beliefs

Neither can be disproved or proved

Very debatable issue

Even anthropologists differ in their views

http://thebrain.mcgill.ca/flash/capsules/outil_rouge06.html

http://www.wikipedia.org/http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steven_Pinkerhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Language_In

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