ELT 211 - Theories of The Origin of Language
ELT 211 - Theories of The Origin of Language
ELT 211 - Theories of The Origin of Language
3. The Pooh pooh Theory The idea of the origin of language is the use of tongue and mouth
gestures to mimic manual gestures. For example, saying ta-ta is like
waving goodbye with your tongue. But most of the things we talk 10. The last theory of the origin of language was proposed some
about do not have characteristic gestures associated with them, years ago by the Danish linguist, Otto Jespersen. This language
much less gestures you can imitate with the tongue and mouth. expert says, ‘we must imagine primitive language as consisting
(chiefly, at least) of very long words, full of difficult sounds, and sung
7. The la-la Theory rather than spoken’. It is the strangest of all theories, but deserves
The idea that speech emerged from the sounds of inspired serious thought because of the learning of the author.
playfulness, love, poetic sensibility, and song. This one is lovely, and
no more or less likely than any of the others.
8. Biblical Theory
Let us peep into the Biblical account of the origin of language which
is contained in the second chapter in the book of Genesis. According
to this account, “the Lord God formed man of dust from the ground,
and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a
living being.” Afterwards he created trees and rivers. And then “out of
the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field and every
bird of the air, and brought them to the man to see what he would
call them; and whatever the man called every living creature, that
was its name. The man gave names to all cattle, and to the birds of
the air, and to every beast of the field….” It is an account of the birth
of language in man, who is placed at the centre of the world.
Supporters of the nativist theory also believe that children are wired
to understand basic rules of grammar, like combining nouns and
verbs to form phrases.