3the origins of language 250715

This is the story of Thag. He has small, beady eyes, long, hairy arms, and a forehead like the rocky overhang of a particularly steep cliff.

Thag is what he calls himself. All the others of his tribe don’t bother with names. Life is complicated enough as it is, but a fire is some comfort, especially on a cold windy night like tonight.

Thag hears thunder, faintly, over the distant hills; no one else does.

He motions for them to get in the cave, but they don’t move from the warm fire, ...

... so Thag imitates the sounds of the storm and points over the hills. BOOM!!!‌ Satisfied, they all go into the cave.

The origins of Language

Linguistics July, 25th. 2015 Licda. Milvia Rosales

“The origins of human language will perhaps remain forever obscure There might have been hundreds or even thousands of languages and writings that were made during this time in history that, sadly, we will never see.

Cave drawings These paintings were generally made from primitive painting materials.

What might seem to us like a group of old pictures of men and animals can turn out to be something much more significant.

These drawings usually depicted men hunting, performing customs usual to the time, or showing just ordinary animals.

Historians date these paintings to be around 15,000 B.C. Most of them are found in France or Spain and are considered to be the oldest forms of writing or communication of all time.

The Egyptians Hieroglyphics were an assortment of pictures and other engravings that the Egyptians used to convey messages which are considered to date back to 3,000 B. C. They were found in old tombs or even sometimes on papyrus scrolls.

They told the history of their pharaohs or gods and told of battles or plagues that were happening to them.

It took a long time for modern man to realize that the hieroglyphics were actually an alphabet.

It was not decoded until the 18th Century when the Rosetta Stone was found.

Ancient languages Egyptian, Greek, and Latin.

Greek It has been in existence for over 3,400 years.

Greek civilization made many great achievements in government, philosophy, architecture, poetry, and drama Plato and Aristotle were two very important philosophers from this time.

Before the twentieth century the study of Ancient Greek was considered necessary in any classical education.

Latin It is as important as Greek and has been in existence almost as long.

It is considered “dead” because it is no longer a spoken language.

It is still taught in classical schools.

During the middle ages and Renaissance times, Latin was the “lingua franca” * of Europe.

Almost two-thirds of English words have Latin roots.

Theories of the origins of language The Bow-Wow Theory: language began when our ancestors started imitating the natural sounds around them such as: moo, meow, splash, cuckoo, and bang.

The Ding-Dong Theory It was 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.

The La-La Theory The Danish linguist Otto Jespersen suggested that language may have developed from sounds associated with love, play, and (especially) song.

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!").

The Yo-He-Ho Theory Language evolved from the grunts, groans, and snorts evoked by heavy physical labor.

The Tower of Babel (Genesis 11:1-9) The whole world had one language.

People decided to build a city with a tower that would reach to heaven.

By building the tower they wanted to make a name for themselves.

God came to see their city and the tower they were building.

He perceived their intentions, and in His infinite wisdom, He knew this "stairway to heaven" would only lead the people away from God. God confused their language, causing them to speak different languages so they would not understand each other.

By doing this, God thwarted their plans.

He also scattered the people of the city all over the face of the earth.

E-graphy http://www.historyforkids.org/learn/ad.htm http://library.thinkquest.org/08aug/00869/whendi dlanguagestart.html http://grammar.about.com/od/grammarfaq/a/Whe re-Does-Language-Come-From.htm http://christianity.about.com/od/biblestorysumma ries/p/towerofbabel.htm