It has been suggested that pre-language be merged into this article or section. (Discuss)

The origin of language (glottogony) is a topic that has attracted considerable speculation throughout human history. The use of language is one of the most conspicuous and diagnostic traits that distinguish Homo sapiens from other species. Unlike writing, spoken language leaves no trace. Hence linguists have to resort to indirect methods in trying to decipher the origins of language. Image File history File links Mergefrom. ... Homo sapiens (Latin: wise man) is the scientific name for the human species. ...

Linguists agree that there are no existing primitive languages, and all modern human populations speak languages of comparable complexity. While existing languages differ in the size of and subjects covered in their lexicons, all possess the grammar and syntax needed, and can invent, translate, or borrow the vocabulary necessary to express the full range of their speakers' concepts.^[1][2] All humans possess similar linguistic abilities, and no child is born with a biological predisposition favoring any one language or type of language.^[3] Look up lexicon in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... For the rules of the English language, see English grammar. ... For other uses, see Syntax (disambiguation). ... A neologism is a word, term, or phrase which has been recently created (or coined), often to apply to new concepts, to synthesize pre-existing concepts, or to make older terminology sound more contemporary. ... // In linguistics, a calque (pronounced ) or loan translation is a word or phrase borrowed from another language by literal, word-for-word (Latin: verbum pro verbo) or root-for-root translation. ...

Speech versus language

It is necessary to make a minor distinction between speech and language. Speech involves producing sounds from the voicebox. Talking birds, such as some parrots, are able to imitate human speech with varying ability. However this ability to mimic human sounds is very different from the acquisition of syntax. On the other hand, the deaf generally do not use speech but are able to communicate effectively using sign language, which is considered a fully-developed, complex, modern language. What this implies is that the evolution of modern human language required both the development of the anatomical apparatus and also neurological changes in the brain. Talking birds are birds who can imitate human speech. ... For the runtime engine for Perl 6, see Parrot virtual machine. ... The word deaf can have very different meanings depending on the background of the person speaking or the context in which the word is used. ... Two sign language Intepreters working as a team for a school. ...

Animal communication

Main article: Animal language

Though all animals use some form of communication, researchers generally do not classify their communication as language. However, the communication systems of a few animal species do share some attributes in common with modern human language. Dolphins, for example, are able to communicate like humans by calling each other by name.^[4][5] Animal language is the modeling of human language in non human animal systems. ... Cetacean intelligence denotes the cognitive capabilities of the cetacean order of mammals and especially the various species of dolphin. ...

Primate language

Main article: Great ape language

Not much is known about great ape communication in the wild, but in captivity they have been taught rudimentary sign language and to use lexigrams (keyboards with symbols). Some apes such as Kanzi have reportedly been able to learn several hundred words. However, they do lack grammar or syntax. Furthermore the anatomical structure of their larynx does not enable apes to make many of the sounds that humans do. Research into non-human great ape language has involved teaching gorillas, chimpanzees, and orangutans to communicate with human beings and with each other using sign language, physical tokens, and lexigrams; see Yerkish. ... Kanzi (born October 23, 1980), a bonobo, is one of the most most famous and accomplished linguistic apes, in research led by E. Sue Savage-Rumbaugh. ...

In the wild, the communication of vervet monkeys has been the most studied.^[5] They are known to make up to ten different vocalizations. Many of these are used to warn other members of the troupe about approaching predators, and include a "leopard call", a "snake call", and an "eagle call". Each alarm triggers a different defensive strategy. Scientists were able to elicit predictable responses from the monkeys using loudspeakers and prerecorded sounds. Other vocalizations may be used for identification. If an infant monkey calls, its mother turns toward it, but other vervet mothers turn instead toward that infant's mother to see what she will do.^[6] Species Chlorocebus sabaceus Chlorocebus aethiops Chlorocebus djamdjamensis Chlorocebus tantalus Chlorocebus pygerythrus Chlorocebus cynosuros The vervet monkeys or green monkeys are primates from the family of Old World monkeys. ...

Archaic hominids

See also: Neanderthal#Language

There is considerable speculation about the language capabilities of ancient hominids. Some scholars believe the advent of hominid bipedalism around 3.5 million years ago would have brought changes to the human skull, allowing for a more L-shaped vocal tract. The shape of the tract and a larynx positioned relatively low in the neck are necessary prerequisites for many of the sounds humans make, particularly vowels. Other scholars believe that, based on the position of the larynx, not even the Neanderthals had the anatomy necessary to produce the full range of sounds modern humans make.^[3][7] Still another view considers the lowering of the larynx irrelevant to the development of speech.^[8] The recent discovery of a Neanderthal hyoid bone suggests that Neanderthals may have been anatomically capable of producing sounds similar to modern humans, and studies indicate that by 400,000 years ago the hypoglossal canal of living hominids had reached the size of that in modern humans. The hypoglossal canal transmits nerve signals to the brain and its size is said to reflect speech abilities. Hominids who lived earlier than 300,000 years ago had hypoglossal canals more akin to those of chimpanzees than of humans.^[9][10][11] For other uses, see Neanderthal (disambiguation). ... Sagittal section of human vocal tract The vocal tract is that cavity in animals and humans, where sound that is produced at the sound source (larynx in mammals; syrinx in birds) is filtered. ... The larynx (plural larynges), colloquially known as the voicebox, is an organ in the neck of mammals involved in protection of the trachea and sound production. ... The hyoid bone (Os Hyoideum; Lingual Bone) is a bone in the human neck, not articulated to any other bone; it is supported by the muscles of the neck and in turn supports the root of the tongue. ... The hypoglossal canal is a bony canal in the occipital bone of the skull that transmits the hypoglossal nerve from its point of entry near the medulla oblongata to its exit from the base of the skull near the jugular foramen. ... The hypoglossal canal is a bony canal in the occipital bone of the skull that transmits the hypoglossal nerve from its point of entry near the medulla oblongata to its exit from the base of the skull near the jugular foramen. ...

However, although Neanderthals may have been anatomically able to speak, many scholars doubt that they possessed a fully modern language. They largely base their doubts on the fossil record of archaic humans and their stone tool kit. For 2 million years following the emergence of Homo habilis, the stone tool technology of hominids changed very little. Richard G. Klein, who has worked extensively on ancient stone tools, describes the crude stone tool kit of archaic humans as impossible to break down into categories based on their function, and reports that Neanderthals seem to have had little concern for the final form of their tools. Klein argues that the Neanderthal brain may have not reached the level of complexity required for modern speech, even if the physical apparatus for speech production was well-developed.^[12][13] The issue of the Neanderthal's level of cultural and technological sophistication remains a controversial one. Richard G. Klein is a Professor of Anthropological Sciences at Stanford University. ...

Anatomical features such as the L-shaped vocal tract have been continuously evolving as opposed to appearing suddenly. ^{[14][citation needed]} Even though archaic humans used crude stone technology, it was still more advanced than that of chimpanzees or gorillas. Hence it is most likely that archaic humans possessed some form of communication intermediate between that of modern humans and that of other primates.^{[15][citation needed]}

Modern humans

See also: Behavioral modernity

Anatomically modern humans first appear in the fossil record 195, 000 years ago in Ethiopia. But while modern anatomically, these humans continued to behave just like the hominids who existed before. They used the same crude stone tools and hunted inefficiently.^[16] However, beginning about 100,000 years ago, there is evidence of more sophisticated behaviour, and by 50,000 years ago fully modern behaviour is thought to have developed in various parts of Africa.^[17][11] After this point, stone tools show regular patterns that are reproduced or duplicated with more precision, and tools made of bone and antler appear for the first time. The artifacts are also now easily sortable into many different categories based on their function, such as projectile points, engraving tools, knife blades, and drilling and piercing tools.^[12] Teaching offspring how to manufacture such detailed tools may have required complex language.^{[citation needed]} Behavioral modernity is a term used in anthropology and archeology to refer to an important milestone in the evolution of humans. ... Behavioral modernity is a term used in anthropology and archeology to refer to an important milestone in the evolution of humans. ... For the Poet Laureate of Milwaukee, see Antler (Poet). ...

The greatest step in language evolution would have been the progression from primitive, pidgin-like communication to a creole-like language with all the grammar and syntax of modern languages.^[5] Many scholars believe that this step could only have been accomplished with some biological change to the brain, such as a mutation. It has been suggested that a gene such as FOXP2 may have undergone a mutation allowing humans to communicate. Evidence suggests that this change took place somewhere in Africa around 50,000 years ago, which rapidly brought about significant changes that are apparent in the fossil record.^[5] There is still some debate as to whether language developed gradually over thousands of years or whether it appeared suddenly. This article is about simplified languages. ... A creole language, or simply a creole, is a stable language that originates seemingly as a nativized pidgin. ... FOXP2 (forkhead box P2) is a gene that is implicated in the development of language skills,[1] including grammatical competence. ...

According to the Out of Africa hypothesis, around 50,000 years ago^[18] a group of humans left Africa and proceeded to colonize the rest of the world, including Australia and the Americas, which had never been populated by archaic hominids. Some scientists^[16] believe that Homo sapiens did not leave Africa before that, because they had not yet attained modern cognition and language, and consequently lacked the skills or the numbers required to migrate.

Monogenesis

Main article: Proto-World language

Linguistic monogenesis (the "Mother Tongue Theory") is the hypothesis that there was one single protolanguage (the "Proto-World language") from which all other languages spoken by humans descend. All human populations from the Australian aboriginals to the Fuegians living at the Southern tip of Argentina possess language. This includes populations, such as the Tasmanian aboriginals or the Andamanese, who may have been isolated from the old world continents by as long as 40,000 years. Thus, the multiregional hypothesis would entail that modern language evolved independently on all the continents, a proposition considered implausible by proponents of monogenesis.^[19][20] The term Proto-World language refers to the hypothetical, most recent common ancestor of all the worlds languages – an ancient proto-language from which are derived all modern languages, all language families, and all dead languages known from the past 6,000 years of recorded history. ... Categories: Move to Wiktionary | Stub ... Proto-language may either refer to a language that preceded a certain set of given languages, or to system of communication during a stage in glottogony that may not yet be properly called a language. ... The term Proto-World language refers to the hypothetical, most recent common ancestor of all the worlds languages – an ancient proto-language from which are derived all modern languages, all language families, and all dead languages known from the past 6,000 years of recorded history. ... Aboriginal Flag Indigenous Australians are the people who lived in the Australia and its nearby islands before the arrival of European settlers in 1788, and who continue to live there as minority peoples. ... Picture of a Fuegian (possibly a Yaghan) from the voyage of FitzRoys ship, HMS Beagle. ... Comparative map showing the distributions of the various Andamanese peoples in the Andaman Islands- early 1800s versus present-day (2004). ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ...

All humans alive today are descended from Mitochondrial Eve, a woman estimated to have lived in Africa some 150,000 years ago. This raises the possibility that the Proto-World language could date to approximately that period.^[21] There are also claims of a population bottleneck, notably the Toba catastrophe theory which postulates human population at one point some 70,000 years ago was as low as 15,000 or even 2,000 individuals.^[22] If it indeed transpired, such a bottleneck would be an excellent candidate for the date of Proto-World, which also illustrates the fact that Proto-World would not necessarily date to the first emergence of language. Mitochondrial Eve (mt-mrca) is the name given by researchers to the woman who is the matrilineal most recent common ancestor (MRCA) for all living humans. ... The term Proto-World language refers to the hypothetical, most recent common ancestor of all the worlds languages – an ancient proto-language from which are derived all modern languages, all language families, and all dead languages known from the past 6,000 years of recorded history. ... A population bottleneck (or genetic bottleneck) is an evolutionary event in which a significant percentage of a population or species is killed or otherwise prevented from reproducing, and the population is reduced by 50% or more, often by several orders of magnitude. ... Eruption column rising, Mount Redoubt, Alaska According to the Toba catastrophe theory, modern human evolution was affected by a recent, large volcanic event. ...

Some proponents of a Proto-World hypothesis, such as Merritt Ruhlen, have attempted to reconstruct the Proto-World language. However, most mainstream linguists reject these attempts and the methods they use (such as mass lexical comparison) for a number of reasons.^[23][24] Merritt Ruhlen is a lecturer in Anthropological Sciences and Human Biology at Stanford, and a co-director of the Santa Fe Institute Program on the Evolution of Human Languages. ... Historical linguistics (also diachronic linguistics or comparative linguistics) is primarily the study of the ways in which languages change over time. ... Mass lexical comparison or mass comparison is a highly controversial method developed by the well-known linguist Joseph Greenberg to find genetic relationships among languages in the remote past, beyond the limits of the traditional comparative method, or in situations where there are too many languages to practically apply the...

Scenarios for language evolution

Further information: Evolutionary linguistics

It has been suggested that Pre-language be merged into this article or section. (Discuss)

Evolutionary linguistics is the scientific study of the origins and development of language. ... Image File history File links Mergefrom. ...

Gestural theory

The gestural theory states that human language developed from gestures that were used for simple communication. For gestures in computing, see mouse gesture. ...

Two types of evidence support this theory.

1. Gestural language and vocal language depend on similar neural systems. The regions on the cortex that are responsible for mouth and hand movements border each other.
2. Nonhuman primates can use gestures or symbols for at least primitive communication, and some of their gestures resemble those of humans, such as the "begging posture", with the hands stretched out, which humans share with chimpanzees.^{[citation needed]}

Research found strong support for the idea that verbal language and sign language depend on similar neural structures. Patients who used sign language, and who suffered from a left-hemisphere lesion, showed the same disorders with their sign language as vocal patients did with their spoken language.^[25] Other researchers found that the same left-hemisphere brain regions were active during sign language as during the use of vocal or written language.^[26] For other uses, see Cortex. ... For the ecclesiastical use of this term, see primate (religion) Families 13, See classification A primate is any member of the biological order Primates, the group that contains all lemurs, monkeys, and apes, including humans. ... The human brain as viewed from above, showing the cerebral hemispheres. ... Skin lesions caused by Chickenpox A lesion is any abnormal tissue found on or in an organism, usually damaged by disease or trauma. ...

The important question for gestural theories is why there was a shift to vocalization. There are three likely explanations:

1. Our ancestors started to use more and more tools, meaning that their hands were occupied and could not be used for gesturing.
2. Gesturing requires that the communicating individuals can see each other. There are many situations in which individuals need to communicate even without visual contact, for instance when a predator is closing in on somebody who is up in a tree picking fruit.
3. The need to co-operate effectively with others in order to survive. A command issued by a tribal leader to 'find' 'stones' to 'repel' attacking 'wolves' would create teamwork and a much more powerful, co-ordinated response.

Humans still use hand and facial gestures when they speak, especially when people meet who have no language in common.^[27] Deaf people also use languages composed entirely of signs. The word deaf can have very different meanings depending on the background of the person speaking or the context in which the word is used. ...

Pidgins and creoles

See also: Creoles

A pidgin is a simplified language that develops as a means of communication between two or more groups who do not share a common language, in situations such as trade, whose vocabulary is generally derived from languages of the various groups. The manner in which pidgins develop is of interest in understanding the origin of human language. For the languages, see Creole language The term Creole is used with different meanings in different contexts, which can generate confusion. ... This article is about simplified languages. ...

Pidgins are significantly simplified languages with only rudimentary grammar and a restricted vocabulary. In their early stage pidgins mainly consist of nouns, verbs and adjectives with few or no articles, prepositions, conjunctions or auxiliary verbs. The grammar consists of words with no fixed word order^{[citation needed]} and the words have no inflectional endings. The redirects here. ... In grammar, a preposition is a word that establishes a relationship between an object (usually a noun phrase) and some other part of the sentence, often expressing a location in place or time. ... In linguistics, an auxiliary (also called helping verb, auxiliary verb, or verbal auxiliary) is a verb functioning to give further semantic or syntactic information about the main or full verb following it. ...

If contact is maintained between the groups speaking the pidgin for long periods of time, the pidgins may become more complex over many generations. If the children of one generation adopt the pidgin as their native language it develops into a creole language, which becomes fixed and acquires a more complex grammar, with fixed phonology, syntax, morphology, and syntactic embedding. The syntax and morphology of such languages may often have local innovations not obviously derived from any of the parent languages. A creole language, or simply a creole, is a stable language that originates seemingly as a nativized pidgin. ...

Studies of creole languages around the world have suggested that they display remarkable similarities in grammar and are developed uniformly from pidgins in a single generation. These similarities are apparent even when creoles do not share any common language origins. In addition creoles share similarities despite being developed in isolation from each other. Syntactic similarities of creoles include Subject Verb Object word order. Even when creoles are derived from languages with a different word order they often develop the SVO word order. Creoles tend to have similar usage patterns for definite and indefinite articles, and similar movement rules for phrase structures even when the parent languages do not.^[5] The grammars of creole languages often, though not universally, share a number of structural features, even in cases of languages which developed independently. ... In linguistic typology, subject-verb-object (SVO) is the sequence subject verb object in neutral expressions: Sam ate oranges. ...

Universal grammar

Main article: Universal grammar

Since children are largely responsible for creolization of a pidgin, scholars such as Derek Bickerton and Noam Chomsky concluded that humans are born with a Universal grammar hardwired into their brains. This universal grammar consists of a wide range of grammatical models that include all the grammatical systems of worlds' languages. The default settings of this universal grammar are represented by the similarities apparent in creole languages. These default settings are overridden during the process of language acquisition by children to match the local language. When children learn a language they first learn the creole-like features more easily than the features that conflict with creole grammar.^[5] Universal grammar is a theory of linguistics postulating principles of grammar shared by all languages, thought to be innate to humans. ... Derek Bickerton (born March 25, 1926) is a linguist and Professor Emeritus at the University of Hawaii, Honolulu. ... Avram Noam Chomsky (born December 7, 1928) is an American linguist, philosopher, political activist, author, and lecturer. ... Universal grammar is a theory of linguistics postulating principles of grammar shared by all languages, thought to be innate to humans. ...

Another issue that is often cited as support for the Universal grammar theory is the recent development of Nicaraguan Sign Language. Beginning in 1979, the recently installed Nicaraguan government initiated the country's first widespread effort to educate deaf children. Prior to this there was no deaf community in the country. A center for special education established a program initially attended by 50 young deaf children. By 1983 the center had 400 students. The center did not have access to teaching facilities of any of the sign languages that are used around the world; consequently, the children were not taught any sign language. The language program instead emphasized spoken Spanish and lipreading, and the use of signs by teachers limited to fingerspelling (using simple signs to sign the alphabet). The program achieved little success, with most students failing to grasp the concept of Spanish words. Nicaraguan Sign Language (or ISN, Idioma de Señas de Nicaragua or Idioma de Signos Nicaragüense) is a signed language spontaneously developed by deaf children in a number of schools in western Nicaragua in the 1970s and 1980s. ... This article needs to be wikified. ...

The first children who arrived at the center came with only a few crude gestural signs developed within their own families. However, when the children were placed together for the first time they began to build on one another's signs. As more younger children joined the language became more complex. The children's teachers, who were having limited success at communicating with their students, watched in awe as the kids began communicating amongst themselves.

Later the Nicaraguan government would solicit help from Judy Kegl, an American sign-language expert at Northeastern University. As Kegl and other researchers began to analyze the language, they noticed that the young children had taken the pidgin-like form of the older children to a higher level of complexity, with verb agreement and other conventions of grammar.^[28] Judy Shepard-Kegl recieved her PH.D. in linguistics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1985, has worked and written extensively within her field and is best known for her work and multiple academic publishings on the Nicaraguan Sign Language (or ISN, Idioma de Señas de Nicaragua or... “Neu” redirects here. ...

Idioglossia

There have also been accounts of twins who spoke an unintelligible language that only their sibling understood. These cases are better documented; in the 1970s, the Kennedy twins, whose given names were "Grace" and "Virginia", called each other Poto and Cabengo; it was determined that their idiosyncratic speech was a deeply altered form of English, with some influence from their grandmother's German. It appeared to be a well-formed language, with rules governing grammar and syntax. Similarly idiosyncratic speech patterns were reported from the twin writers June and Jennifer Gibbons. For other uses, see Twin (disambiguation). ... The 1970s decade refers to the years from 1970 to 1979, also called The Seventies. ... Poto and Cabengo were a pair of identical twin girls (real names Grace and Virginia Kennedy, respectively), who used a secret language up to the age of about 8. ... June and Jennifer Gibbons (born April 11, 1963) were twins born to a military family from Barbados, whose story is a curious case involving psychology and language. ...

Even in the absence of the unusual social lives of twins, many people have found it relatively easy and natural to construct new languages, with lexicons either derived from pre-existing languages, or wholly imagined. The author J. R. R. Tolkien and his several languages of Middle-earth is one well known creator; there are many others. A constructed or artificial language — known colloquially as a conlang — is a language whose phonology, grammar, and/or vocabulary have been devised by an individual or group, instead of having naturally evolved as part of a culture. ... Look up lexicon in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Tolkien redirects here. ... The languages of Middle-earth are artificial languages invented by J. R. R. Tolkien and used in his books about Middle-earth, including The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion. ...

History

The search for the origin of language has a long history, rooted in mythology. For other uses, see Mythology (disambiguation). ...

History of research

Main article: Evolutionary linguistics

Late 18th to early 19th century European scholarship assumed that the languages of the world reflected various stages in the development from primitive to advanced speech, culminating in the Indo European family seen as the most advanced. Modern linguistics does not begin until the late 18th century, and the romantic or animist theses of Johann Gottfried Herder and Johann Christoph Adelung remained influential well into the 19th century. The question of language origins proved inaccessible to methodical approaches, and in 1866 the Linguistic Society of Paris famously banned discussion of the origin of language, deeming it to be an unanswerable problem. A systematic approach to Historical linguistics became only possible with the Neogrammarian approach of Karl Brugmann and others from the 1890s, but scholarly interest in the question has only been gradually re-kindled from the 1950s (and then controversially) with ideas such as Universal grammar, mass lexical comparison and glottochronology. "Origin of language" as a a subject of its own emerges out of studies of neurolinguistics, psycholinguistics and human evolution in general. The Linguistic Bibliography introduces "origin of language" as a separate heading in 1988, as a sub-topic of psycholoinguistics, with dedicated research institutes of evolutionary linguistics emerging in the 1990s. Evolutionary linguistics is the scientific study of the origins and development of language. ... For other uses, see Indo-European. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Johann Christoph Adelung (8 August 1732 - 10 September 1806) was a German grammarian and philologist. ... 1866 (MDCCCLXVI) is a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar or a common year starting on Wednesday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar. ... The Société Linguistique de Paris (established 1864) is the editing body of the BSL (Bulletin de la Société Linguistique) journal on linguistics, containing the proceedings of the societys seven per year. ... Historical linguistics (also diachronic linguistics or comparative linguistics) is primarily the study of the ways in which languages change over time. ... The Neogrammarians (also Young Grammarians, German Junggrammatiker) were a German school of linguists, originally at the University of Leipzig, in the late 19th century who proposed the Neogrammarian hypothesis of the regularity of sound change. ... Karl Brugmann was a German linguist (1849-1919) and one of the leading figures in Indo-European languages research. ... Universal grammar is a theory of linguistics postulating principles of grammar shared by all languages, thought to be innate to humans. ... Mass lexical comparison or mass comparison is a highly controversial method developed by the well-known linguist Joseph Greenberg to find genetic relationships among languages in the remote past, beyond the limits of the traditional comparative method, or in situations where there are too many languages to practically apply the... Glottochronology refers to methods in historical linguistics used to estimate the time at which languages diverged, based on the assumption that the basic (core) vocabulary of a language changes at a constant average rate. ... Neurolinguistics is the science concerned with the human brain mechanisms underlying the comprehension, production, and abstract knowledge of language, be it spoken, signed, or written. ... Psycholinguistics or psychology of language is the study of the psychological and neurobiological factors that enable humans to acquire, use, and understand language. ... For the history of humans on Earth, see History of the world. ... The Linguistic Bibliography (Bibliographie Linguistique) is an annual publication, first appearing 1947, providing a comprehensive bibliography of publications in linguistics (about 20,000 items per year), published by Springer Verlag. ... Evolutionary linguistics is the scientific study of the origins and development of language. ...

Historical experiments

History contains a number of anecdotes about people who attempted to discover the origin of language by experiment. The first such tale was told by Herodotus, who relates that Pharaoh "Psamtik" (probably Psammetichus I) caused two children to be raised by deaf-mutes; he would see what language they ended up speaking. When the children were brought before him, one of them said something that sounded to the pharaoh like bekos, the Phrygian word for bread. From this, Psamtik concluded that Phrygian was the first language. King James V of Scotland is said to have tried a similar experiment; his children were supposed to have ended up speaking Hebrew. Both the medieval monarch Frederick II and Akbar, a 16th century Mughal emperor of India, are said to have tried a similar experiment; the children involved in these experiments did not speak.^[29][30] An anecdote is a short tale narrating an interesting or amusing biographical incident. ... Herodotus of Halicarnassus (Greek: Hēródotos Halikarnāsseús) was a Greek historian who lived in the 5th century BC (ca. ... For other uses, see Pharaoh (disambiguation). ... Psammetichus or Psamtik was the name of three Egyptian pharaohs. ... Wahibre Nomen Psamtik Horus name Aaib Nebty name Neba Golden Horus Qenu Issues Nitocris I Died 610 BC Burial Sais Psammetichus, or Psamtik I, was the first of three kings of the Saite, or Twenty-sixth dynasty of Egypt. ... The Phrygian language was the Indo-European language of the Phrygians, a people of the central Asia Minor. ... James V (April 10, 1512 – December 14, 1542) was king of Scotland (September 9, 1513 – December 14, 1542). ... Hebrew redirects here. ... Frederick II (December 26, 1194 – December 13, 1250), of the Hohenstaufen dynasty, was a pretender to the title of King of the Romans from 1212 and unopposed holder of that monarchy from 1215. ... This article needs additional references or sources for verification. ... The Mughal Empire (alternative spelling Mogul, which is the origin of the word Mogul) of India was founded by Babur in 1526, when he defeated Ibrahim Lodi, the last of the Delhi Sultans at the First Battle of Panipat. ...

In religion and mythology

Main article: Mythical origins of language

See also: Divine language and Adamic language

According to Genesis, the observed variety of human languages originated at the Tower of Babel with the confusion of tongues. (Image from Gustave Doré's Illustrated Bible).

Religions and ethnic mythologies often provide explanations for the origin and development of language. Most mythologies do not credit humans with the invention of language, but know of a language of the gods (or, language of God), predating human language. Mystical languages used to communicate with animals or spirits, such as the language of the birds, are also common, and were of particular interest during the Renaissance. There have been many explanations of the origin of language prior to any scientific theories. ... For the fictional language used in the 1997 film The Fifth Element, see The Divine Language. ... The Adamic language is a term for the hypothetical proto-language believed spoken by Adam and Eve in paradise, either identical with the language used by God to address Adam, or invented by Adam (Genesis 2:19). ... The two-dimensional work of art depicted in this image is in the public domain in the United States and in those countries with a copyright term of life of the author plus 100 years. ... The two-dimensional work of art depicted in this image is in the public domain in the United States and in those countries with a copyright term of life of the author plus 100 years. ... For other uses, see Genesis (disambiguation). ... This article is about the Biblical story. ... Gustave Dorés interpretation of the confusion of tongues. ... Doré photographed by Felix Nadar. ... The language of the gods, or, in monotheism, language of God or language of angels, is the concept of a mystical or divine proto-language, superior to, and predating human speech. ... This article is about the mystical or mythical language. ... This article is about the European Renaissance of the 14th-17th centuries. ...

One of the best known examples in the West is the Tower of Babel passage from Genesis in the Bible or Torah. The passage, common to all Abrahamic faiths, tells of God punishing man for the tower's construction by means of the confusion of tongues (Genesis 11:1-9). Local variations of this passage are found to have followed Christian missionaries on their journeys across the world, although the extent to how much of the tradition existed prior to the arrival of the missionaries is still discussed. This article is about the Biblical story. ... For other uses, see Genesis (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Bible (disambiguation). ... Template:Jews and Jewdaism Template:The Holy Book Named TorRah The Torah () is the most valuable Holy Doctrine within Judaism,(and for muslims) revered as the first relenting Word of Ulllah, traditionally thought to have been revealed to Blessed Moosah, An Apostle of Ulllah. ... An Abrahamic religion (also referred to as desert monotheism) is any religion derived from an ancient Semitic tradition attributed to Abraham, a great patriarch described in the Torah, the Bible and the Quran. ... This article is about the term God in the context of monotheism and henotheism. ... Human beings are defined variously in biological, spiritual, and cultural terms, or in combinations thereof. ... Gustave Dorés interpretation of the confusion of tongues. ... For other uses, see Genesis (disambiguation). ... A missionary is a propagator of religion, often an evangelist or other representative of a religious community who works among those outside of that community. ...

A group of people on the island of Hao in Polynesia tell a very similar story to the Tower of Babel, speaking of a God who, "in anger chased the builders away, broke down the building, and changed their language, so that they spoke diverse tongues".^[1] Hao is a large coral atoll in the central part of the Tuamotu Archipelago. ... Carving from the ridgepole of a Māori house, ca 1840 Polynesia (from Greek: πολύς many, νῆσος island) is a large grouping of over 1,000 islands scattered over the central and southern Pacific Ocean. ...

See also

• Animal communication
• Introspection
• Language acquisition
• Sound change

Animal communication is any behaviour on the part of one animal that has an effect on the current or future behaviour of another animal. ... This article is about the psychological process of introspecting. ... For the academic journal, see Language Acquisition: A Journal of Developmental Linguistics. ... Sound change or phonetic change is a historical process of language change consisting in the replacement of one speech sound or, more generally, one phonetic feature by another in a given phonological environment. ...

Footnotes

Year 2007 (MMVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. ... is the 58th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 128th day of the year (129th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. ... is the 252nd day of the year (253rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Jared Mason Diamond (b. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 143rd day of the year (144th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... The New York Times is a daily newspaper published in New York City and distributed internationally. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. ... is the 252nd day of the year (253rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. ... is the 252nd day of the year (253rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... John Ohala is a Professor Emeritus in linguistics at the University of California, Berkeley. ... A digital object identifier (or DOI) is a standard for persistently identifying a piece of intellectual property on a digital network and associating it with related data, the metadata, in a structured extensible way. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. ... is the 253rd day of the year (254th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... A digital object identifier (or DOI) is a standard for persistently identifying a piece of intellectual property on a digital network and associating it with related data, the metadata, in a structured extensible way. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. ... is the 253rd day of the year (254th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... A digital object identifier (or DOI) is a standard for persistently identifying a piece of intellectual property on a digital network and associating it with related data, the metadata, in a structured extensible way. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. ... is the 253rd day of the year (254th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... A digital object identifier (or DOI) is a standard for persistently identifying a piece of intellectual property on a digital network and associating it with related data, the metadata, in a structured extensible way. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. ... is the 253rd day of the year (254th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. ... is the 253rd day of the year (254th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Merritt Ruhlen is a lecturer in Anthropological Sciences and Human Biology at Stanford, and a co-director of the Santa Fe Institute Program on the Evolution of Human Languages. ... Richard G. Klein (born April 11, 1941) is a Professor of Anthropological Sciences at Stanford University. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. ... is the 314th day of the year (315th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Also see: 2002 (number). ... is the 11th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Todays San Francisco Chronicle was founded in 1865 as The Daily Dramatic Chronicle by teenage brothers Charles de Young and Michael H. de Young. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. ... is the 253rd day of the year (254th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. ... is the 199th day of the year (200th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. ... is the 252nd day of the year (253rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Nicholas Wade is a U.S. journalist and author of at least 2 books. ... The New York Times is a daily newspaper published in New York City and distributed internationally. ... Year 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 196th day of the year (197th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. ... is the 253rd day of the year (254th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. ... is the 253rd day of the year (254th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Merritt Ruhlen is a lecturer in Anthropological Sciences and Human Biology at Stanford, and a co-director of the Santa Fe Institute Program on the Evolution of Human Languages. ... Year 1996 (MCMXCVI) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display full 1996 Gregorian calendar). ... Year 2007 (MMVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. ... is the 314th day of the year (315th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 160th day of the year (161st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. ... is the 314th day of the year (315th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Zompist. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. ... is the 314th day of the year (315th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... The California State University (CSU) is one of three public higher education systems in the state of California, the other two being the University of California system and the California Community College System. ... A digital object identifier (or DOI) is a standard for persistently identifying a piece of intellectual property on a digital network and associating it with related data, the metadata, in a structured extensible way. ...

References

• Cangelosi, A., Greco, A. & Harnad, S. (2002) Symbol Grounding and the Symbolic Theft Hypothesis. In: Cangelosi, A. & Parisi, D. (Eds.) Simulating the Evolution of Language. London, Springer.
• Crystal, David (1997). The Cambridge encyclopedia of language. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-55967-7. 
• Deacon, Terrence William (1997). The symbolic species: the co-evolution of language and the brain. New York: W.W. Norton. ISBN 0-393-03838-6. 
• Dunbar, R. I. M. (1996). Grooming, gossip and the evolution of language. London: Faber and Faber. ISBN 0-571-17396-9. 
• Harnad, SR; Lancaster, JB; Steklis, HD (1976). Origins and evolution of language and speech. New York, N.Y: New York Academy of Sciences. ISBN 0890720266. 
• Hauser, M.D.; Chomsky, N.; Fitch, W. (2002). "The Faculty of Language: What Is It, Who Has It, and How Did It Evolve?". Science 298 (5598): 1569. doi:10.1126/science.298.5598.1569. 
• Hurford, J, Nativist and functional explanations in language acquisition, pp. 85–136 ; in Roca, I.M. (1990). Logical issues in language acquisition. Foris.  Available on-linePDF (1.88 MiB)
• Wong, Yan; Dawkins, Richard (2004). The ancestor's tale: a pilgrimage to the dawn of life. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 36-87. ISBN 0-297-82503-8. 
• Allott, Robin (1989). The motor theory of language origin. Sussex, England: Book Guild. ISBN 0-86332-359-6. 
• de Waal, FBM; Pollick AS (2007). "Ape gestures and language evolution". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 104 (19): 8184-9. doi:10.1073/pnas.0702624104. ; popular summary in Williams, L (2007-05-01), Human language born from ape gestures, Cosmos Magazine, <http://www.cosmosmagazine.com/node/1270>. Retrieved on 20 February 2008 
• Edward Vajda, The Origin of Language