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The importance of the evolution of the English language
English language evolution
The evolution of language
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The origin of spoken language has stumped linguistics dating as far back as the Twenty-sixth dynasty in Egypt and the first recorded language experiment conducted by a Pharaoh named Psammetichus I. While it is widely understood that our ability to communicate through speech sets us apart from other animals, language experts, historians and scientists can only hypothesize how, where and when it all began. Some new findings may provide some real insight into this conundrum.
A recent study conducted by Quentin D. Atkinson, a biologist at the University of Auckland in New Zealand, suggests two very important findings: language originated only once, and the specific place of origin may be southwestern Africa.
While most studies focus on words in
For this summary I watched a video called Voices of the World: The Extinction of Language and Linguistic Diversity. The video starts off with how people believe that there are about 6, 000 languages. David Crystal talks about how with all these different languages half of them are endangered of becoming extinct. Each different language offers a different point of view of the world and culture. He said that if different languages are lost then “we lose the meaning what is it to be human.”
Louis Laurent Marie Clerc was born on December 26, 1785 in La Balme-les-Grottes, in southeastern France. He was born into a wealthy family that served the king, and his father was mayor of their village from 1780-1814. When Clerc was one year old he fell off a chair and hit his head hard on the floor, leaving a scar. The scar on his face later became part of his name sign, the middle and index finger would brush downward across the right cheek near the mouth. Soon later he developed a fever, and both his sense of hearing and smell were damaged. And it was never clear if the his loss of senses were from the accident or if he was born with those disabilities. His parents had tried everything to fix his hearing but nothing worked.
The article The Strange Persistence of First Languages by Julie Sedivy was an intriguing and eye-opening piece of writing to read. The concepts she brought to life through her explicit writing revealed many things I had never heard of before. The further I read, the more I wanted to know and the deeper my interest became. As a monolingual, this article was insightful, captivating and ultimately provided me with a new perspective on language.
The video Mother Tongues: Languages Around the World discusses the various languages found in Africa, Oceana, Asia, Europe, and the Americas. The film starts with a brief description of Africa’s nearly 2000 languages. It explains that because of Africa’s relative isolation and long history of occupants it has the most languages of any land mass. The African languages include anything from Arabic, Swahili, or the ‘click’ language. Click languages are located only in Africa; in these languages the clicks function as normal consonants.The many languages of Africa all evolved differently due to separation between groups. For example the Nigeria area has over 400 languages and almost every language group is represented. Africa has unique sounds such as kp or gb which can be written has ibgo. These sounds are not common in places other than Africa. Swahili is probably the best-known African language. Developed along the Indian Ocean near areas such as Kenya. Swahili was adopted from many languages especially Arabic. Swahili has taken on an international image as one of the main languages of Africa.
How can it be that something so uniquely human and commonplace in our everyday existence as language, could transcend the limits of our immediate understanding? We all know how to speak and comprehend at least one language, but defining what we actually know about that language an infinitely more demanding process. How can a child without previous knowledge of the construction and concepts of language be born into the world with an innate ability to apprehend any dialect? Mark Baker, in his book The Atoms of Language, seeks to address these unsettling questions, proposing as a solution, a set of underlying linguistic ingredients, which interact to generate the wide variety of languages we see today.
Myers, provider of source material for Edie Heydt's notes from "Human Origins," fall 1997, Alfred. Much of the material in the notes is paraphrased, and the original information sources are unknown.
The prehistoric times stand evidence to the power of language as a tool for communication and growth. Language has proven to be an effective medium and factor surrounding the evolution of man. Language has played a big role in the development of individuals and societies. What is spoken and/or written, help in the initiation of imagination, expression of feelings, and conveyance of thoughts and ideas. “The pen is mightier than the sword” (Bulwer-Lytton 1839).
Hill, Jane H., P. J. Mistry, and Lyle Campbell. The Life of Language: Papers in Linguistics in Honor of William Bright. Berlin [etc.: Mouton De Gruyter, 1998. Print.
The human intellect is widely understood to be that which distinguishes us from other animals. Mayr tells us that the rapid brain expansion that took place in Australopithecines and early Homo is correlated with two factors; a change in hominids niche, moving from the trees to bush savanna, and the development of speech. (p 252) This essay attempts to summarize some current explanations of the relationships between language and the brain in human evolution, and relate them to another characteristic of humans correlated with the human intellect- our social complexity.
The results of morphological dating best-support the multiregional evolution hypothesis of modern humans, and further complicate the possible ancestry of modern Australian Aboriginals.
the words form, and where does language come from at the beginning. He studies the origins of
It is believed, in the beginning humans actually had a form of language where they
Gonzalez, Jason. "Human Communication: Language Structure." Anthropology 1102. University of Georgia. Miller Learning Center, Athens. 24 Jan. 2014. Class lecture.
Language can be seen or heard. It can be diverse or standard. Language has many uses, functions and meanings. It can be individual or social. Clark (1996, as cited by Hayes and Gee, 2011, p.6) states that language can be made up of a set of rules that enable us to speak grammatically, making language a cognitive phenomenon. Language is diverse; it can be written, spoken, symbolic and even physically felt with fingertips. Language can be heard: oral language has been present since the beginning of time, it is an innate feature of humans and animals. On the contrary, language can be seen: written language has been estimated present for the last 3000-8000 years (Sampson, 1990, as cited by Hayes and Gee, 2011, p.7). Although, written
The settlement of the British Isles by north Europeans followed by Norman French paints the backdrop to this essay which will focus on the period between the early 15th and 17th centuries, when a 'standard' English evolved. It will show that modern-day English is very different to that first introduced to the British Isles, but by identifying changes through time, its continuity can be demonstrated. Finally, it will suggest that present day English is in a position analogous to that which existed before the Norman invasion, when there were many varieties and dialects, and that this may lead to its decline as a global language, due to decreasing intelligibility.