Nothing Like Finding a Voltaire Quote in a Fortune Cookie!
Why We Have Language
Human language appears to be a unique phenomenon, without significant analogue in the animal world.
~Noam Chomsky
Language Selection
To begin to understand language, it is important to ponder how human language has evolved into a communication system different from other animals. The main question to ask is: what selected for language? Different theories have been proposed, but one that seems most plausible is the idea that our ancestor’s foraging strategies changed.[1] Human ancestors were likely faced with two constraints: On the one hand, predators called for an increase in the size of foraging groups, for protection. However, foraging in large groups would have been the least efficient mode for human ancestors because it would have been too hard to find enough food for everyone to eat in a relatively small area. This would have caused a strong selective pressure for them to break up into smaller groups. This adaptation would have caused language to develop out of a need for social control (Bickerton, 159). Human ancestors had to develop a way to communicate with one another, and recruit members, to direct the group towards obtaining food.
Niche Construction Theory
This niche construction theory, the theory that gives animals themselves a vital role to play in their own evolution, demonstrates how genes and behavior change together (Bickerton, 93). The animals modify their environments, and these modified environments select for further genetic variations in the animals (Bickerton, 99). In the case of human beings, one of the main things gained over time is a large brain. Our need for language resulted in an increase in brain size (Bickerton, 34). The first human ancestors, Australopithecines, had a brain size of about 400-550 cm3. Then, the Homo Habilis had a brain size of about 600-800cm3. The brain continued to increase in size, reaching a measurement of 800-1000cm3 in Homo Erectus and then 1100-1500cm3 in Homo Sapiens.[2] The brain size increased as the need for a more developed communication system grew. Simple gestures and speech sounds moved to the articulation of words, which resulted in the need for a larger and more specialized brain. The human brain developed to be able to receive information from the senses, send it to be analyzed for identification, choose a course of action based on the analysis, and then send an order to execute that action (Bickterton, 193).
Additional Language Theories
Other theories regarding the evolution and adaptation of language have been proposed, and while philosophers and analysts have found flaws within each theory, they are worth taking a look at. Through a richer understanding of the thought process theorists went through when thinking about language, one can understand what needs to be taken into consideration when studying language. Looking at language patterns and comparing syntax and phonology cross-culturally are crucial when working to deepen an understanding of language usage. Below, four different language theories are outlined and one can see why in theory each sounds plausible, but in reality, none of these theories fully explain why humans today have such a unique and specialized communication system.
Ta-Ta Theory
One additional language theory that has been proposed is the Ta-Ta Theory, which holds the belief that body movement preceded language. Sir Richard Paget, who was influenced by Darwin, proposed that language began as an unconscious vocal imitation of bodily movements – such as the way a kid moves his mouth when they use scissors, or when one’s tongue sticks out when trying to thread a needle. Darwin agreed that human language represents the use of oral gestures that began in imitation of hand gestures that were already in use for communication.[3] However, this raises the question of where did the sophisticated set of gestures for humans to imitate with their mouth gestures come from? This sign language consisting of iconic gestures had to have originated somewhere. It appears that this theory does not fully answer the question of where did language originate from.
Bow-Wow Theory
Another language theory that has been proposed by various scholars, including Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Johann Gottfried Herder, is the bow-wow theory. This theory suggests that the first human languages developed as onomatopoeia, imitations of natural environmental sounds. These scholars believe that man, who was once mute, heard the music of birds, the thunder of clouds, the roaring of the ocean, and the rustling of the forest, and tried to imitate these sounds. These sounds became useful for identifying objects, and from this language became more sophisticated.[4] However, there are problems with this theory. There are very few onomatopoeic words in today’s languages, and these words vary from one language to another. For example, a dog’s bark is heard as au au in Brazil, ham ham in Albania, and wang wang in China (Ahmad and Shah).
Pooh-Pooh Theory
The pooh-pooh theory of language states that speech arose through people making instinctive sounds, caused by pain (Ouch!), surprise (Oh!), or other emotions. The belief is that these involuntary exclamations eventually lead to more developed ideas and emotions. However, the problem with this theory is that no language contains many of these interjections/spontaneous cries, and these noises bear little relationship to the vowels and consonants found in phonology (Ahmad and Shah). Wilbur Marshall Urban (1873-1952), and American philosopher of language, discredited this theory in 1951: “All attempts at explaining the language in this way have been fruitless. There is no tangible evidence, historical or other, tending to show that the mass of speech elements or processes has evolved out of interjections.”[5]
Ding-Dong Theory
One last theory worth thinking about is the ding-dong theory, which was proposed by Friedrich Max Müller, only to later be rejected by him. According to this theory, language began when humans reacted to stimuli in their environment and spontaneously started producing sounds to reflect harmony with the environment (Ahmad and Shah). This theory, favored by Plato and Pythagoras, has problems in that there is no evidence to show any innate connection between sound and meaning apart from some rare instances of sound symbolism.
Summary
Language is a key component of what it means to be human, and without an understanding of how human beings obtained language, it becomes impossible to explain and understand ourselves. Language evolution is part of human evolution, and it makes sense only if considered as a part of human evolution. “Language is what determines the meanings of words and signs and what combines them into meaningful wholes, wholes that add up to conversations, speeches, essays, epic poems. Language goes beyond that even; it’s what makes your thoughts truly meaningful, what builds your ideas into structured wholes.”[6] Once humans developed structural language, humans were able to think conceptually and abstractly; humans were no longer trapped in the here and now. These design features of language will be further explored in Part II. All one needs to understand right now is that social interaction is the pressure that selected for language, and when our ancestors began to learn language, symbols were also created. These symbols set the whole process of language evolution in motion. This language specialization is necessary to consciously perceive and understand how every single human experience plays a crucial role in defining one’s reality.
[1] Bickerton
[2] Salzmann, Zdeněk. Language, Culture, and Society: An Introduction to Linguistic Anthropology. 4th ed. Boulder, CO: Westview, 2007. Print. . Further reference to this source in parentheses (Salzman, p.#).
[3] Ta-Ta Theory.” Free Online Dictionary. Babylon, 2012. Web. 21 July 2012. <http://www.babylon.com/definition/ta-ta_theory/English>. Further reference to this source in parentheses (Free Online Dictionary).
[4] Ahmad, Syed Sajid, and Zia H. Shah MD. “THE BEGINNING OF LANGUAGE: THE INCREMENTAL REVELATION THEORY.” N.p., n.d. Web. 21 July 2012. <http://www.alislam.org/egazette/articles/The-beginning-of-language-200908.pdf>. Further reference to this source in parentheses (Ahmad and Shah).
[5] Marshall, Wilbur Urban. Language and Reality: The Philosophy of Language and the Principles of Symbolism. New York: Macmillan, 1951. Print. Further reference to this source in parentheses (Marshall, pg.#).
[6] Bickerton, Derek. Adam’s Tongue: How Humans Made Language, How Language Made Humans. New York: Hill and Wang, 2010. Print. . Further reference to this source in parentheses (Bickerton, p.#).
Metaphor: Making the Abstract Concrete and Visual 