4. THE DIVINE SOURCE
The Biblical tradition claimed that Adam
named things and so those remained
that way. On the other, a Hindu tradition
believed the foundation was given by
Saravasti, wife of Brahma, creator of the
Universe.
In most religions there seemed to be a
belief language was God-given.
A few experiments were carried out to
prove it, though not all children would
speak spontaneously the original
language.
6. THE NATURAL SOUND SOURCE
The Bow-Wow Theory
The early human tried
to imitate the sounds
that they heard and
used them to refer to
particular objects.
Example: coo-coo
ONOMATOPEIA: defined as words that sound
similar to the noises they describe. Example: boom/guau
8. THE SOCIAL INTERACTION SOURCE
The “Yo-he-ho” Theory
The sounds of a person involved in
physical effort could be the source of
our language, especially when it
involved people interaction.
Example: grunts, groans, hums,
curses..
10. THE PHYSICAL ADAPTATION SOURCE
The types of physical features humans possess, especially those that are distinct from
other creatures, may have been able to support speech production.
12. THE TOOL-MAKING SOURCE
-Manual
gestures
-Right-
handedness
-Manipulating
objects
-Lateralized (two
hemispheres)
-Left: motor
movement-
complex
vocalization and
object
manipulation.
The outcome of manipulating objects and changing them using
both hands, is evidence of a brain at work.It may be that there was
an evolutionary connection between the language-using and
tool-using abilities of humans and that both were involved in the
development of the speaking brain.
Grasping one rock and
bringing another: putting
them together to develop a
tool.
Message-building capacity
14. THE GENETIC SOURCE
Humans are born with a special capacity for language. It’s
innate, not other creature seems to have it. It could be
something in human genetics, possibly a crucial mutation.
15. Do animals & humans communicate
in the same way?
16. Experiments
Kanzi
Directed language → particular behaviour => Lack of comprehension
WASHOE
✓ Capable of taking part in interaction.
χ Incapable of continuing performing linguistically.
17. Why is the human
language unique?
Arbitrariness
