Religious traditions attribute language origin to divine sources like God or goddesses.

Experiments aimed to rediscover the original divine language through isolating infants.

Psammetichus claimed success as isolated infants reportedly uttered a Phrygian word.

Critics suggest infants might have mimicked sounds from their environment, like goats.

Experiments by King James IV and Mogul emperor Akbar yielded conflicting results.

Real-world cases of isolated children (e.g., Victor, Genie) show no spontaneous language.

Reconstructing an original divine language remains elusive, considering the biblical Tower of Babel.

"Bow-Wow" Theory:

Based on the concept of natural sounds influencing the origins of language.

Human auditory system processes sounds before birth, leading to the ability to connect sounds with their sources.

Jespersen (1922) dubbed this idea the "bow-wow" theory.

Early humans imitated natural sounds of objects (e.g., bird calls) and used them as words.

Many modern languages have words resembling natural sounds, supporting this theory.

Examples in English include cuckoo, splash, bang, boom, rattle, buzz, hiss, screech, and bow-wow.

Onomatopoeia:

Words that sound like the noises they describe (e.g., splash, buzz).

Raises questions about how soundless things or abstract concepts could be represented using this theory.

"Pooh-Pooh" Theory:

Suggested by Jespersen as another perspective on language origin.

Proposes that speech developed from instinctive sounds made in emotional circumstances.

Originates from natural cries of emotion (e.g., pain, anger, joy).

Expressive noises (interjections) like Ouch!, Ah!, Ooh!, Phew!, Wow!, or Yuck! are considered unlikely sources for language.

These interjections are typically produced with inhales, contrary to ordinary speech, which occurs during exhales.

Expressive sounds in emotional reactions contain uncommon sounds not used in regular speech production.

"Yo-He-Ho" Theory:

Proposes that the sounds produced during physical effort could be the origin of language.

Suggests that coordinated physical activities, especially those involving groups, led to the development of hums, grunts, groans, and curses.

The theory places the development of language in a social context, emphasizing the need for communication in early human groups.

Groups provided better protection from threats, and communication, even rudimentary, was essential for social organization.

Acknowledges that sounds would have had a principled use in the social interaction of early human groups.

However, it doesn't explain the origin of the sounds themselves.

Social Context:

Emphasizes that early humans likely lived in groups for protection.

Larger groups inherently require some form of communication for organization.

While apes and primates also live in social groups and use grunts and calls, they haven't developed the capacity for speech.

Highlights the importance of understanding the purpose of humanly produced sounds in the context of social interaction.

Upright Posture and Breathing:

Early humans transitioned to an upright posture with bipedal locomotion, altering the rhythm of breathing.

Unlike four-legged creatures, human breathing is not tied to walking rhythm, allowing long articulations during exhales and quick in-breaths.

Approximately 90% of human breathing while speaking is exhalation.

Physical Features Supporting Speech Production:

Neanderthal vocal tract reconstruction suggests consonant-like sound distinctions were possible around 60,000 years ago.

Fossilized skeletal structures from 35,000 years ago resemble modern human features.

Streamlined physical features found in humans, such as teeth, lips, mouth, tongue, larynx, and pharynx, provide clues to speech capacity.

Teeth and Lips:

Human teeth are upright and evenly sized, adapted for grinding and chewing, and suitable for sounds like f or v.

Human lips have intricate muscle interlacing, aiding in the production of sounds like p, b, and m, commonly made by infants.

Mouth and Tongue:

Human mouth is relatively small, opens and closes rapidly, and is part of an extended vocal tract with an L-shape.

Humans have a shorter, thicker, and more muscular tongue than other primates, enabling a wide range of sounds.

Larynx and Pharynx:

Human larynx (voice box) differs in position from other primates, dropping lower due to upright posture.

Lower larynx creates a longer pharynx, acting as a resonator for increased sound range and clarity.

Humans can close off the airway through the nose, creating more air pressure in the mouth.

Evolutionary development of these features potentially outweighed disadvantages, such as an increased risk of choking, providing a larger range of sounds.

Physical Adaptation and Speech Sounds:

Speech sounds likely superimposed on existing anatomical features like teeth and lips, previously used for chewing and sucking.

Similar development observed in human hands, where manual gestures may have been a precursor to language.

Around two million years ago, evidence indicates preferential right-handedness and the ability to make stone tools.

The Human Brain:

The human brain is large relative to body size and lateralized, with specialized functions in each hemisphere.

Motor movements controlling complex vocalization and object manipulation are close in the left hemisphere, suggesting an evolutionary connection.

Language and tool-using abilities may have influenced the development of the speaking brain.

Brain Activity and Stone Tool Creation:

Study tracked brain activity in experienced stonecutters crafting a stone tool, using a technique known for 500,000 years.

Brain activity patterns during tool making and thinking of particular words were similar, suggesting language structure development through shared brain circuits.

Primitive Tool Making and Language Structure:

Basic process in primitive tool making involves grasping one rock (making one sound) and bringing another rock (other sounds) into contact to develop a tool.

Human may have first developed a naming ability by consistently using one type of noise (e.g., bE E r).

Crucial step was combining another specific noise (e.g., gO O d) to build a complex message (bE E r gO O d).

Over thousands of years, humans have refined this message-building capacity, allowing complex expressions like "This beer is good."

Other primates do not exhibit this level of language complexity.

Human Baby's Development:

At birth, a baby's brain is a quarter of its eventual weight, and the larynx is high in the throat, allowing simultaneous breathing and drinking.

Over a short period, the larynx descends, the brain develops, and the child assumes an upright posture, walking and talking.

Innateness Hypothesis:

Scholars propose the innateness hypothesis to explain the complexity of young children's language and rapid development.

Even deaf children, when exposed to appropriate circumstances, become fluent in sign language early in life.

Suggests that human offspring are born with an innate capacity for language, not tied to a specific variety of language.

Genetic Basis and Changes:

Innateness hypothesis points to human genetics, possibly crucial mutations, as the source of language.

Gene mutations related to changes in diet and increased calorie intake may have enhanced blood flow in the brain, supporting a larger and more complex brain.

Timing and relationship to physical adaptations are unclear, but the focus shifts from fossil evidence to analogies with computers and genetics.

Search for the "Language Gene":

Investigation turns toward finding the special "language gene" unique to humans.

Speculations move from physical sources of sounds to concepts from biology and genetics.

FOXP2 Gene:

Task at the end of the chapter allows investigation into the background of the FOXP2 gene, thought to have a role in language production.

Possibility of Language in Other Creatures:

The question arises whether any other creature can produce or understand language.

The innateness hypothesis suggests humans possess a unique language capacity, but the complete impossibility for other creatures remains uncertain.

1 When did written language develop? 

2 When can we say the human auditory system has begun working? 

3 What percentage of human breathing while speaking normally consists of in-breaths? 

4 What is the difference between the position of the larynx in humans and other primates? 

5 Why are interjections such as Ooh! or Yuck! considered to be unlikely sources of human speech sounds?

6 What is the basic idea behind the “bow-wow” theory of language origin? 

7 Why is it difficult to agree with Psammetichus that Phrygian must have been the original human language? 

8 Where is the pharynx and how did it become an important part of human sound production? 

9 Why do you think that young deaf children who become fluent in sign language would be cited in support of the innateness hypothesis? 

10 With which of the six “sources” would you associate the following quotation? 

Chewing, licking and sucking are extremely widespread mammalian activities, which, in terms of casual observation, have obvious similarities with speech.