1 / 13

The Origins of Human Language

Theories about the Origin of Language. Otto Jespersen (1921): Human language originated while human beings were enjoying themselves. The Divine Source Theory. In most religions: divine source provides humans with languageGenesis (2:19): God created Adam and

Mercy
Download Presentation

The Origins of Human Language

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

    1. The Origins of Human Language Yule, George (1996). The Study of Language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. (Chapter 1)

    3. The Divine Source Theory In most religions: divine source provides humans with language Genesis (2:19): God created Adam and ‘whatsoever Adam called every living creature that was the name thereof‘

    4. The Divine Source Theory Hindu: Language comes from goddess Sarasvati, wife of Brahma, creator of the universe

    5. Experiments Egyptian pharaoh Psammetichus (600 B.C) two new-born infants two years in the company of a mute shepard Phrygian word: bekos (meaning bread)

    6. Experiments James IV of Scotland: similar experiment children were reported to have started speaking Hebrew

    7. The Natural Sounds Source Theory Hypothesis: primitive words are imitations of the natural sounds which early man and women heard around them E.g.: object flew by ? cuckoo sound?name cuckoo

    8. The Natural Sounds Source Theory Explanation for onomatopoe(t)ic words: splash, bang, boom, rattle, buzz, hiss Also called bow-wow (Wauwau) theory of language

    9. The Natural Sounds Source Theory Natural cries of emotion: pain, anger, joy:? e.g. ouch Yo-heave-ho theory: sounds of a person involved in physical effort e.g. when lifting trees or mammoths

    10. The Oral Gesture Source Theory hypothesis: link between physical gesture and orally produced sounds developed by Sir Richard Paget (1930) movement of the tongue when saying goodbye resembles movement of waving of the hand

    11. Physiological Adaptation Theory physical features of human beings: good clues for their capacity for speech human teeth: upright, even in height human lips: flexibility, needed for sounds like p,b and w

    12. Physiological Adaptation Theory human larynx (Kehlkopf): position lower than with monkeys ? longer cavity called pharynx (Rachenhöhle) acts as resonator

    13. Physiological Adaptation Theory human brain: lateralized has special functions in each of the two hemispheres left hemisphere: analytic, tool using, language right hemisphere: holistic, music, visuo-spatial skills

More Related