1. The Divine SourceIn most religio

1. The Divine Source

In most religions, it is believed that language is a God-given gift to human species. In Christianity, God gave Adam the kingdom of all animals in the Garden of Eden and the first thing Adam did was to name these animals. That is how language started according to religious sources. Today people speak many different languages rather than only one language because ancient humans became too proud and they tried to build the Tower of Babel in order to reach God. So, God punished them by separating their languages.

People tried to discover the original divine language which was spoken by our most ancient ancestors. They assumed that if a child was brought up without hearing any language, the first word the child would utter would be in this divine language.



2. The Natural Sound Source

‘The “Bow-bow” Theory’

All languages have sounds that mimic the natural sounds. These are called onomatopoeic words. Some examples from Turkish are şırıl şırıl, hav hav, miyav, lıkır lıkır, etc. One belief is that human languages originated from these onomatopoeic words that mimic the sounds of entities or actions to which they refer. Thus, for example, miyav originally would be a word to refer to cats.

‘ The “Pooh-pooh” Theory’

According to this assumption language originated with the use of sounds that reflect emotions such as pain, fear, hunger, surprise, and the sounds of laughter and crying, etc. Some examples of these sounds are üf, ayyy, yaa, vay, etc. However, these sounds of emotion do not necessarily exist in the vocabulary of human language. Therefore, it is not plausible to assume that sounds of emotion are the basis for human language.


‘The “Yo-heave-ho” Theory’

According to this proposal, early human beings used some sounds when they were doing some collaborative work. For example, when they were lifting a huge animal that they hunted, they used sounds to do their task for physical coordination and to reach their message to their friends that they share the burden of their job. It is claimed that these sounds eventually turned out into a language.

3. The Oral-Gesture Source

People use some nonverbal communication when they speak. For example, we wave hands to say good-bye; we nod our heads to show our approval or to mean ‘yes’, we produce a sound by our tongue when we mean ‘no’. The oral-gesture source suggests that language started with the gestures that we use by our mouth and other speech organs.

4. Glossogenetics

Our ancestors became bipedal (standing and walking on their two legs) about 3.5 million years ago. When these humans could stand on their two legs, their larynx (a speech organ behind Adam’s apple in the human throat) changed in a way to allow humans to produce vowel and consonant sounds in human languages. Human language developed as a result of this evolutionary change.

5. Physiological Adaptation

Unlike human beings, no other species can use language because other animals have a very different physiology than human beings. Modern human beings have vocal tract for speaking. Human mouth is small, which makes it easier to open and close for fast speech production. Human teeth are in upright position and are regular in size, which allows us to produce sounds such as, f and v. Human mouth has a complicated muscle system, which allows us to produce various vowels. Our tongue can move backwards, forwards, up and down. This allows us to produce various speech sounds. In fact without these speech organs, human beings could not have spoken.

In addition, to these changes, human brain has gone through a number of changes, it became much bigger and specialized for language.

Researchers have claimed that human beings adapted all these physiological changes throughout their history and these changes caused the emergence of human language.

Interactions and Transactions



Human language has two functions: Interactional and transactional. The interactional function pertains to our contact with other people socially and expressing our emotions. For example, we greet people, we ask them how they are, we chat about weather, we show our friendliness and hostility either by using gestures or by means of language. We also use language to transmit knowledge, skills, and information. For example, we give lectures, we give recipes about how to cook spinach, we talk about how to build houses, we talk about news, etc. This is known as the transactional function of language.

The transactional function of language can only be transferred by means of language. In other words, we can not educate our children by using our gestures, we can not transmit knowledge about our past by only using body movements.

According to some scholars, the reason why we, human beings, have developed human language is to be able to record our knowledge and pass it to other generations and to share knowledge and information with other people. In other words, the transactional function of language is a motivation for its origin. It is also considered to be the motivation for the eventual development of the writing systems.

Activity – ORIGINS OF LANGUAGE

Activity 1

Divine Source

1. How does the language comes from?
2. How did language start according to Christianity?
3. Nowadays, why do people speak many different languages?
4. What kind of experiment did an Egyptian pharaoh do around 600 BC.?

Oral-Gesture Source

1. What does this source sugests?

2. How is the connection between physical and oral gestures?

3.- Name at least 3 organs for the oral gesture

4.- Provide an example of the Oral-Gesture theory

5.- What is the proposal of Sir Richard Paget (1930)?

Glossogenetics

1.- Glossogenetics is focused on _________________________________________________________________ (Complete)

2.- Human ancestors made the transition to _________________________________________________________________ (Complete)

3.- What is the main change seen in Neanderthal?

Physiological Adaptation

1.- What were the changes needed for humans to be able to speak?

2.- The term “voice box”, what does it refer to?

3.- What makes human brain unique?

Interactions and Transactions

1.- What is the Interactional function?

2.- What is the Transactional function?

Activity 2

Describe in your own words which theory best describes the Origin of Language. Support your answer with facts, quotes, opinions, etc.

(To check your answers, please go to home and check the link: Activities Keyword)

*You may require checking other sources

ผลลัพธ์ (ไทย) 1:

1. แหล่งพระในศาสนามากที่สุด เชื่อว่าภาษาของขวัญพระเจ้าประทานให้มนุษย์พันธุ์ ในศาสนาคริสต์ พระเจ้าให้อาดัมอาณาจักรของสัตว์ทั้งหมดใน Eden ของสวน และสิ่งแรกที่อาดัมได้มีการตั้ง ชื่อสัตว์เหล่านี้ ที่เป็นวิธีเริ่มภาษาตามแหล่งศาสนา วันนี้คนพูดภาษาต่าง ๆ แทนที่เป็นภาษาเดียวเท่านั้น เพราะมนุษย์โบราณกลายเป็นเห่อ และพวกเขาพยายามที่จะสร้างหอคอยบาเบลเพื่อให้เข้าถึงพระเจ้า ดังนั้น พระเจ้ารับการลงโทษพวกเขา โดยแยกภาษาของพวกเขาคนพยายามค้นพบภาษาของพระเจ้าเดิมที่ถูกพูด โดยดึกดำบรรพ์ที่สุดของเรา พวกเขาสันนิษฐานว่า ถ้าเด็กถูกนำขึ้นโดยไม่ต้องได้ยินทุกภาษา คำแรกของเด็กจะส่งจะในภาษาพระเจ้านี้ 2. ต้นเสียงธรรมชาติ"ทฤษฎี"โบว์โบว์"'ทุกภาษามีเสียงเลียนแบบเสียงธรรมชาติ เหล่านี้จะเรียกว่าคำ onomatopoeic ตัวอย่างจากตุรกีมี şırıl şırıl, hav hav, miyav, lıkır lıkır ฯลฯ ความเชื่อหนึ่งเป็นว่า ภาษามนุษย์มาจากคำ onomatopoeic เลียนแบบเสียงของเอนทิตีหรือการดำเนินการที่พวกเขาอ้าง ดังนั้น เช่น miyav เดิมจะคำที่หมายถึงแมว'"Pooh-pooh" ทฤษฎี'According to this assumption language originated with the use of sounds that reflect emotions such as pain, fear, hunger, surprise, and the sounds of laughter and crying, etc. Some examples of these sounds are üf, ayyy, yaa, vay, etc. However, these sounds of emotion do not necessarily exist in the vocabulary of human language. Therefore, it is not plausible to assume that sounds of emotion are the basis for human language. ‘The “Yo-heave-ho” Theory’According to this proposal, early human beings used some sounds when they were doing some collaborative work. For example, when they were lifting a huge animal that they hunted, they used sounds to do their task for physical coordination and to reach their message to their friends that they share the burden of their job. It is claimed that these sounds eventually turned out into a language.3. The Oral-Gesture SourcePeople use some nonverbal communication when they speak. For example, we wave hands to say good-bye; we nod our heads to show our approval or to mean ‘yes’, we produce a sound by our tongue when we mean ‘no’. The oral-gesture source suggests that language started with the gestures that we use by our mouth and other speech organs.4. GlossogeneticsOur ancestors became bipedal (standing and walking on their two legs) about 3.5 million years ago. When these humans could stand on their two legs, their larynx (a speech organ behind Adam’s apple in the human throat) changed in a way to allow humans to produce vowel and consonant sounds in human languages. Human language developed as a result of this evolutionary change.5. Physiological AdaptationUnlike human beings, no other species can use language because other animals have a very different physiology than human beings. Modern human beings have vocal tract for speaking. Human mouth is small, which makes it easier to open and close for fast speech production. Human teeth are in upright position and are regular in size, which allows us to produce sounds such as, f and v. Human mouth has a complicated muscle system, which allows us to produce various vowels. Our tongue can move backwards, forwards, up and down. This allows us to produce various speech sounds. In fact without these speech organs, human beings could not have spoken.In addition, to these changes, human brain has gone through a number of changes, it became much bigger and specialized for language.Researchers have claimed that human beings adapted all these physiological changes throughout their history and these changes caused the emergence of human language.Interactions and Transactions Human language has two functions: Interactional and transactional. The interactional function pertains to our contact with other people socially and expressing our emotions. For example, we greet people, we ask them how they are, we chat about weather, we show our friendliness and hostility either by using gestures or by means of language. We also use language to transmit knowledge, skills, and information. For example, we give lectures, we give recipes about how to cook spinach, we talk about how to build houses, we talk about news, etc. This is known as the transactional function of language.
The transactional function of language can only be transferred by means of language. In other words, we can not educate our children by using our gestures, we can not transmit knowledge about our past by only using body movements.

According to some scholars, the reason why we, human beings, have developed human language is to be able to record our knowledge and pass it to other generations and to share knowledge and information with other people. In other words, the transactional function of language is a motivation for its origin. It is also considered to be the motivation for the eventual development of the writing systems.

Activity – ORIGINS OF LANGUAGE

Activity 1

Divine Source

1. How does the language comes from?
2. How did language start according to Christianity?
3. Nowadays, why do people speak many different languages?
4. What kind of experiment did an Egyptian pharaoh do around 600 BC.?

Oral-Gesture Source

1. What does this source sugests?

2. How is the connection between physical and oral gestures?

3.- Name at least 3 organs for the oral gesture

4.- Provide an example of the Oral-Gesture theory

5.- What is the proposal of Sir Richard Paget (1930)?

Glossogenetics

1.- Glossogenetics is focused on _________________________________________________________________ (Complete)

2.- Human ancestors made the transition to _________________________________________________________________ (Complete)

3.- What is the main change seen in Neanderthal?

Physiological Adaptation

1.- What were the changes needed for humans to be able to speak?

2.- The term “voice box”, what does it refer to?

3.- What makes human brain unique?

Interactions and Transactions

1.- What is the Interactional function?

2.- What is the Transactional function?

Activity 2

Describe in your own words which theory best describes the Origin of Language. Support your answer with facts, quotes, opinions, etc.

(To check your answers, please go to home and check the link: Activities Keyword)

*You may require checking other sources

ผลลัพธ์ (ไทย) 3:

1 แหล่ง

เทพในศาสนามากที่สุด มันคือเชื่อว่า ภาษาเป็นพระเจ้าประทานของขวัญแก่มนุษย์ชนิด ในศาสนาคริสต์ พระเจ้าให้อดัม อาณาจักรของสัตว์ทั้งหมดในสวนเอเดน และสิ่งแรกที่อดัมได้ถูกชื่อสัตว์เหล่านี้ นั่นคือวิธีการที่ภาษาเริ่มจากข้อมูลทางศาสนา