What is the origin of language?

Answer

The immediate origin of language is unknown. It seems reasonable to believe that speech evolved from the vocalizations of animals, but since there are no primitive languages, and no primitive people either - only primitive economies - it is impossible to describe how that may have come about.

Ultimately the origin of language is the need to communicate, and that is as old as life itself, or at least as old as sexual reproduction. Solitary creatures who reproduce by cellular division or budding may not need to communicate with each other, but all other creatures, plants and animals alike, communicate like crazy in various and gloriously different ways. The scent of fruit and the look of flowers are actual examples of plants communicating with animals.

Human speech, though, is an artefact, not a natural process. It is entirely learned behavior, and must be learned very young. And whether there is any other language than human on Earth is problematic. Certainly there is the organized transmission of abstract information in the dance of the honeybee and the chemical telegrams of the ants; and the flashing squid can say "hello Cutie" and "scram, Buster" at the same time. Somehow all the wolves know what to do. And we have no idea what the whales and porpoises might be saying. For all we know it's poetry.

It has been suggested, only half jokingly, that the real origin of human language was the need for an alibi. It is impossible to lie effectively to anybody with grunts and roars; bluffing is the best you can do.

Answer

The origin of language is unknown.

With reference to some of the comments above, the distinctive feature of all human language is this: With a limited set of rules and a limited vocabularly it is possible to produce a set of utterances ot sentences that is either infinite or as good as infinite. (This does not apply to communication between other living creatures, which can only send a limited set of fixed signals: they cannot rearrange them).

The statement above that language "is entirely learned behavior" is problematical. Most linguists take the view that the native language is acquired in infancy, not learned. Infants are not taught to speak their native language; they 'pick it up'. The speed with which they acquire the language(s) spoken in their environment suggest that babies are genetically 'programmed' to acquire language.

In reference to this last emendation, language is unquestionably learned, acquired or "picked up" in infancy. There is no useful distinction between those terms. Children who do not encounter language will not invent it on their own, and adults who have never encountered language cannot acquire it.

First answer by ID1202159049. Last edit by Bennett hammond. Contributor trust: 189 [recommend contributor]. Question popularity: 24 [recommend question]