The Evolution of Language!/Miscellaneous
Hi Guyss!!! I hope everyone has a fantabulous week! Fun Fact: That is an actual word! The topic of words, actually relates to this week's blog post, but I'll get to that in a bit! :)
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3) Now, let's delve into this week's topic: languageeeeeeee!!! If you haven't already discovered it yet, we're going to be talking about the evolution of the human language. Of course, this week's blog post will include one of my infamous "Random Facts!" feature! So, look out for that! Reminder: also remember to respond to our comment prompts!
----------------------------------------------------------------------without further ado, I begin!--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
According to Ethnologue, there are approximately 7,111 languages spoken in today's world! Think about that! 7,111!!!!!! That's a lot! But how did it all start? How did the means of communicating even begin? How did tools like writing or speaking or music begin? So many questions...where to begin? Well, I decided we'll start with a common factor that can be found between writing, speaking, and music. Stories...they all convey stories, and how do we convey stories? Through language. So this week, I set out to research more about the evolution of human language, also known as communication.
So before I go into more of the evolution of lanuage. It's important that I emphasize/define five key terms. Now warning in advise, these words may sound pretty funny. I'm going to need everyone to be VERY MATURE about this. Are you ready? So the terms are..."bow-wow theory," "pooh-pooh theory," "yo-he-ho theory," "ding-dong theory," and finally, "ta-ta theory."
Are you holding in all your laughs? It's okay, if you're not...I'm not either :)
These are some pretty funny names! Let me define them!
Bow-Wow Theory: This theory suggests that early humans began language through imitating sounds from nature such as animal calls. Hence, the name...bow-wow.
Pooh-Pooh Theory: No, it doesn't have anything to do with the defecation of waste from our bodies. Instead, this theory suggests that language originated from involuntary vocalizations. Allow me to elaborate, cries of pain or surprise are often involuntary, thus marking the beginning of language, according to the Pooh-Pooh Theory.
Ding-Dong Theory: So when I was reading up on this theory, I was a little confused so I had to dig deeper. Hopefully, my understanding is correct and it'll help you all too! So this theory states that humans instinctively named things based on sounds they associated with said things in the world around early human. Let me give you an example...but first, let me ask you a question. What sounds does a snake make? I hope you answered along the lines of a "hisss" or a "ssss." Anyways back to the ding-dong theory, seeing a snake may have led early humans to develop the sound "ssss" when they saw a snake, due to the hissing sounds associated with these creatures. However, many linguists and scholars reject this theory since it assumes a direct and universal link between sounds and meanings.
Yo-He-Ho Theory: I don't know about you, but the sound of this theory has always reminded me of Jack and the Beanstalk. Let me tell you why, it reminds me of the giant in Jack and the Beanstalk. The giant yells, "Yo-he-ho, fi fye fo fum...yo ho ho and a bottle of rum"....or something like that, hehe. Anyways, this theory is based off rhythmic sounds made during physical labor or exertion. Let me give you and example. When you're running the mile, you're probably wheezing or breathing heavily because you're exhausted. Naturally, you'll make noises like "haaaaaa haaaaaaaaa" or "ho ho." So these rhythmic sounds form the basis of language.
Ta-Ta Theory: For me, I imagine an old British woman waving regally while wearing a regal purple ballgown and a pearl necklace. As she's waving, she's saying "Ta-Ta," to her guests. It totally reminds me of the ballroom scene in The Princess Diaries (#1). Surprisingly, enough this gesture does have to do with waving goodbye. This theory suggests that language originated from gestures. Specifically, mimicking hand gestures with movement. Sounds like ta-ta represent waving goodbye.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~I HAVE A SURPRISEEEEE!!!!!!!!!~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Okay, so I admit, it's not really a surprise. Well, it is since you didn't know about it, but now you do! Basically, there's another theory to the evolution of language. But it doesn't have such a funny name nor is it as widely known. But here it is....
Gestural Theory: This theory (kind of) relates to the "Ta-Ta Theory," but there are some differences. This theory believes that gestures were the primary mode of communication before early humans developed spoken language. Further on, this theory states that facial expressions and body movements played a pivotal role in shaping communication for early civilizations.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~BREAK TIMEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Congratss...you hung around to learn all the crazy terms in order to understand the evolution of language. Now, it's time for everyone's favorite, my infamous "Did You Know??" feature! Get ready!!!
Did you know-that a google chrome browser has certain extensions? If you click on one of those extensions you can get free confetti (individual feature) Once you receive the confetti feature, just click control b, and BAM you get CONFETTI! Didn't know...know you do!!!! : )
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~AAANDDDD WE'RE BACKKKKKKKKK!!!!!!!!!!~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Now, before I end this week's blog post, I want to cover THREE IDEAS/POINTS:
1) So what's the answer? How was language developed?
This is going to sound disappointing, but as of know there is no definitive answer as to the exact origin of the human language. In fact, the origin of language is still a fierce and ongoing debate among linguists and anthropologists. It's gotten so crazy that some suggest frustrated linguists, scholars, and anthropologists came up with these crazy names just for that reason.
2) How does the evolution of language relate to an evolutionary standpoint or a biological perspective?
Well most theories consider language as a product of human evolution, just as we have explored in this week's blog. There have been biological research that supports biological adaptions have occured to allow for more complex vocal communication. One study, showed that primates (our closest relatives) have a higher voice box then us. Meaning their voice box is located higher in their systems than in the human body. Maybe that's why humans are able to sing and actually speak distinguishable words. Of course, we'd have to research more about this, but we can assume that may be one of the reasons, humans have distinguishable languages. Of course, that doesn't mean other animals don't have senses of communications. They do, but due to different biological and evolutionary adaptions those species don't have distinguishable languages.
3) Social Interaction: How does it play a part? This is one of my personal thoughts. I haven't done any research on this but I do believe that social interaction played a crucial role in the development of language. Developing language is a form of communication which most likely involved social interaction to communicate these ideas.
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````Now it's time for the comment prompt!```````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
1) Please comment your thoughts! What did you think of this week's blog post. Did it need more sources, evidence, or research? Could something have been explained better? Would more information be more beneficial?
2) Should I make this a series? I'll try to cover almost EVERYTHING about the EVOLUTION OF LANGUAGE. I'll get into the nitty and gritty facts of the GREAT DEBATE AKA THE SECRETS BEHIND THE EVOLUTION OF HUMAN LANGUAGE!! Let me know your thoughts!
3) Advice on another blog topic...post it in the comments, and I may cover it! :)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------SO THAT'S A WRAP! :) --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~BUT WAITTT.....ONE LAST THING; I PROMISE!!!!!~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Additional Note: Here is a great video, I found online! It defines all the terms we just spoke about, along with some great visuals! I find visual videos like this beneficial, since I'm a visual learner. In fact, one of my upcoming blog posts will discuss the types of learner, but as usual, more on that later! Hope it helps! See y'all next week!! :)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GvRtlH-3Asc
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