How Language Began

• History
• Primary Education
• Age 11

What can you infer?

Body Language

We use more than our voice to communicate. Body language is the way humans use their bodies to communicate. Facial expressions, gestures, and posture differ from culture to culture.  For example raising your eyebrow to show someone that you want to speak to them or make contact is common worldwide, but in Japan it is Indecent. 

gestures - moving your hands feet, and face in place of speech.

facial expression - motions of your face

posture - position in which someone holds their body when standing or sitting.

How could you sum up a lesson on Language in a Tik Tok? Twitter? Facebook? Instagram?

Strike a pose! Let me see your body language for let's learn. 

# Social Studies 

#Language rocks!

#I speak English

How Language Began

Learning Objectives

1. Analyze what enabled humans to develop language. 
2. Explain why interpretations (explanation) of history are subject to change.
3. Discuss the theories of how language developed.
   

When do you think language began? How do you think language began?

Were they able to communicate that danger was near or maybe to mimic sounds they heard in nature. 

Think about why humans have language skills while other animals do not.

Human language appeared so long ago, there will never be definitive (complete) answers to questions such as "When and where did human language begin?". However, that probably will not stop people from coming up with  theories about the beginnings of this ability that makes us uniquely human. 

Why will scientists likely never know when and how language began?

I know that language appeared long ago. Languages are dying. People come up with their own theories.

 Language may have died out with the last person that speaks the native language. 

So what does this tell me?

In the early part of the 20th century, linguist Otto Jespersen described the four main theories about how human language started. He also added his own idea for a fifth theory.

Linguists investigate how people get their knowledge about language

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Who described the four main theories about how human language started.

1. Ottoman Clarke
2. Jessie Otto
3. Otto Jespersen
4. Otto Jeppers

Theory

A theory is a set of ideas offered to explain something and that no one theory about the origins of language has been proved correct. 

Bow-wow

This theory says that language started with people imitating sounds – especially animal calls.

La-la

Jespersen’s own contribution proposes that the first sounds had to do with love, play, poetry, and song.

Ding-dong

According to the ding-dong theory, the first words came from people’s reactions to the environment. For example, it has been suggested that mama reflects the movement of babies’ lips as they get ready to nurse.

Yo-he-ho

This theory says that the first language came from people’s need to work together. First they made grunts, then they started chanting, and eventually they came up with words.

Pooh-pooh

This theory says humans first came up with speech to express emotions. They needed words to demonstrate such feelings as joy, anger, and frustration.

Do you agree with one or more of the five theories about the origins of language? Can you explain why?

Modern Human Skull

Researchers have studied the parts of the body that make speech. They compared the skulls of Neanderthals, modern humans.  Scientists say humans probably developed speech sometime between 100,000 and 70,000 years ago.

Neaderthal skull

Cave drawings and the use of tools suggest that humans may have communicated in other forms, such as sign language, even earlier.

Throughout history, many languages have come and gone. No one speaks ancient Sumerian today. Many of the 1,000 or so Native American languages used in 1492 died with the last members of the groups that spoke them.

We have just heard that languages have come and gone. This is true for our culture as well. Some words that were used before are no longer used. We are going to look more into this on the last slide. 

Dialect is a form of a language that is understandable to a specific group or place of the language.  Crucian is a dialect. 

So when we say things to one another, we understand it. For example:

mussee

vex

wata

ayo/ayu 

crucian time

cyan, ca'an

Machu

mahnin

mash up

memba

Mussee - must be; she mussee forget

vex  - mad

wata- water

ayo - them

crucian time - late

cyan - can't

machu  - matthew

mahning - morning

mash up - break 

membe - remember

Can you think of one? Give me an example. You have 3o seconds. When you have thought about your answer raise your virtual hand. 

One “dead” language, however, is very much alive. Latin, the language of the ancient Romans, lives on in the Romance languages, including Italian, Spanish, French, Portuguese, and Romanian. They all started out as local dialects of Latin. Latin has contributed thousands of expressions, roots, prefixes, and suffixes to English. 

How confident are you about the topic Language?

😒🙁😐🙂😃

Think about what you have learned today. How confident are you about the topic Language?

Assignment (your choice)

1. Create a 1 to 2 minute song that discusses how language developed.  
2. Create a short interview or write a script for a talk show with linguist Otto Jespersen that discusses how language developed.
3. Imagine a classmate was absent from class today. Write a letter to your classmate that discusses how language developed.