The language dates back to roughly 150,000 years ago.
However, all the linguistic evidence
dates back to around 6000 years ago, when writing began. Consequently, the major history of
language is discovered through guesses and written evidence that is much newer than the era that
the linguists study.
Introduction
The origin of the word ‘language’ can be traced down to the Latin word ‘Lingua’ which implies
‘tongue.’ French terms ‘language’, ‘langue’ and ‘parole’ also bear impressions on ‘Language’.
These terms imply ‘a specific form of speech’. Edward Sapir defines Language as “Language
is a primarily human and non- instinctive method of communicating ideas, emotions and desires
by means of a system of voluntarily produced symbols”
Hence language is stated as documentary and non- instinctive. We acquire it by living in the
society and our family. Every language has a system established through convention and is said
to “live on the lips and ears of the people”. Language has its own words, system sounds etc, It is
symbolic, a physical and mental manifestation of a nonphysical (emotional, intellectual,
spiritual) and internal state. An articulated system of signs, primarily realized in the medium of
speech.
There are innumerable languages prevailing all over the world. In India itself, there are as many
as 845 spoken languages. Hence, in the world over the problem of a common language, is being
felt, as it integrates the different strands of human thought into a whole. Such a language will be
above the barriers of nationality, political interference and other dividing barriers.
There are different beliefs and theories regarding the origin of language. Linguists earlier found
it difficult to arrive at a conclusion about the origin of language due to the absence of adequate
evidences. But today, we have more evidences including genetic data. As per the archeological
records, the archaic humans like Neanderthal, had the neural development and the anatomical
features necessary for linguistic communication. But there is difference of opinion about the use
of language by Neanderthals.
It is assumed that gestural communication (Communication through gestures) started initially. It
later on changed to spoken languages. It was important to spare our hands to use tools for
survival. So, in earlier times instead of hand gestures, humans began to use sound for
communication. Along with sparing their hands, it enabled humans to talk in the dark. They were
also able to communicate about past incidents. But it was not known, from when humans started
using language. Possibly it was evolved with the Homo sapiens in the Stone Age.
Following are some of the theories related to the speculative origin of language:
1. The Bow Wow theory: It is said that speech is the imitation of barking of dogs and other
animals.
2. The Pooh- Pooh theory: Speech is derived from the automatic emission of painful feelings.
3. The Ding Dong theory: Speech is developed gradually by the harmonization of sound and
sense.
4. The Yo-he-ho theory: Sound was produced by regulating the breath as a result of strong
muscular action of mouth.
5. Gestural theory: Humans used their tongue in the same rhythm with gesture and posture. It
gradually helped to develop language.
6. The Tarara-.boom-de-ye theory: Speech is the result of expression of joy. When earlier
humans got big games in hunting, made different sounds of joy. It gradually became the basis of
speech.
What was the first language? How did language begin—where and when? Until recently, a
sensible linguist would likely respond to such questions with a shrug and a sigh. As Bernard
Campbell states flatly in "Humankind Emerging" (Allyn & Bacon, 2005), "We simply do not
know, and never will, how or when language began."
It's hard to imagine a cultural phenomenon that's more important than the development of
language. And yet no human attribute offers less conclusive evidence regarding its origins. The
mystery, says Christine Kenneally in her book "The First Word," lies in the nature of the spoken
word:
"For all its power to wound and seduce, speech is our most ephemeral creation; it is little more
than air. It exits the body as a series of puffs and dissipates quickly into the atmosphere. ... there
are no verbs preserved in amber, no ossified nouns, and no pre-historical shrieks forever spread-
eagled in the lava that took them by surprise."
The absence of such evidence certainly hasn't discouraged speculation about the origins of
language. Over the centuries, many theories have been put forward—and just about all of them
have been challenged, discounted, and often ridiculed. Each theory accounts for only a small part
of what we know about language.
Here, identified by their disparaging nicknames, are five of the oldest and most common theories
of how language began.
The Bow-Wow Theory
According to this theory, language began when our ancestors started imitating the natural sounds
around them. The first speech was onomatopoeic—marked by echoic words such as moo, meow,
splash, cuckoo, and bang.
What's wrong with this theory?
Relatively few words are onomatopoeic, and these words vary from one language to another. For
instance, a dog's bark is heard as au au in Brazil, ham ham in Albania, and wang, wang in China.
In addition, many onomatopoeic words are of recent origin, and not all are derived from natural
sounds.
The Ding-Dong Theory
This theory, favored by Plato and Pythagoras, maintains that speech arose in response to the
essential qualities of objects in the environment. The original sounds people made were
supposedly in harmony with the world around them.
What's wrong with this theory?
Apart from some rare instances of sound symbolism, there is no persuasive evidence, in any
language, of an innate connection between sound and meaning.
The La-La Theory
The Danish linguist Otto Jespersen suggested that language may have developed from sounds
associated with love, play, and (especially) song.
What's wrong with this theory?
As David Crystal notes in "How Language Works" (Penguin, 2005), this theory still fails to
account for "... the gap between the emotional and the rational aspects of speech expression... ."
The Pooh-Pooh Theory
This theory holds that speech began with interjections—spontaneous cries of pain ("Ouch!"),
surprise ("Oh!"), and other emotions ("Yabba dabba do!").
What's wrong with this theory?
No language contains very many interjections, and, Crystal points out, "the clicks, intakes of
breath, and other noises which are used in this way bear little relationship to
the vowels and consonants found in phonology."
The Yo-He-Ho Theory
According to this theory, language evolved from the grunts, groans, and snorts evoked by heavy
physical labor.
What's wrong with this theory?
Though this notion may account for some of the rhythmic features of the language, it doesn't go
very far in explaining where words come from.
As Peter Farb says in "Word Play: What Happens When People Talk" (Vintage, 1993): "All
these speculations have serious flaws, and none can withstand the close scrutiny of present
knowledge about the structure of language and about the evolution of our species."
But does this mean that all questions about the origin of language are unanswerable? Not
necessarily. Over the past 20 years, scholars from such diverse fields as genetics, anthropology,
and cognitive science have been engaged, as Kenneally says, in "a cross-discipline,
multidimensional treasure hunt" to find out how language began. It is, she says, "the hardest
problem in science today."
As William James remarked, "Language is the most imperfect and expensive means yet
discovered for communicating thought."
Human infants are born with the ability to speak. But they are not pre-programmed to speak a
particular language after like English, Hindi, Telugu, and Malayalam etc. We learn our culture
through the process of enculturation. Similarly, we learn the phonemes and morphemes of a
particular language after being exposed to that. Different scholars have proposed different ideas
regarding acquisition of language.
