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The Origin and Devolvement of Language

v Language; primarily something that is spoken

           Before setting out to make a study of the development of the English language, there are some elementary facts that we should get clearly into our minds. The first thing to realize is that language is primarily something that is spoken, not written. The introduction of a system of recording thought and speech by writing (and later by printing) was a very important step forward. But printing and writing are only substitutes for speech. In its primary sense language as the term ‘implies’ is oral. That printing and writing have certainly had an influence on the development of language.

v language is evolutionary, not static

           Secondly we must realize is that language is evolutionary, not static. Change is constantly going on. e.g. Chaucer’s English and English or modern time is quite different. The same is revealed by a comparison of modern French with old French.

           Though this evolutionary factor is obvious, there is frequently a tendency to assume that it is a thing of the past and at least in all civilized countries, language has novel become more or less, set and fixed but this is far from the truth, certain changes are notable. e.g. A grammatical construction which was not tolerated but in his school days but now tolerated. After the establishment of B.B.C. (correct standard) a number of words are in a process of modification. That is why F. T. Wood remarks, It seems reasonable to assume that the farther back in the history of language, we go the easier and more rapid was  the process of change, for conservation were less active. 

v language differentiates man him from the other animal species

            In the third place, it should be realized that speech or language is the distinguishing characteristic of man which differentiates him from the other animal species. Every tribe or race of human beings speaks a language of some kind. But the question arises why was it the one particular species which we call the human, pasted from the utterance, which we may call primitive speech. The answer perhaps it is the development of mind. The species which developed mind and personality also developed speech. Sir. G. Elliot Smith was certainly correct when he said,  “The discovery of speech marked the beginning of man.

           It is matter of dispute what precisely was the origin of language and its development. At present four chief theories hold the field. They are as follow. (1) The Bow-Wow theory, (2) The ding-dong theory (3) The pooh-pooh theory, (4) The gesture theory.

v The bow-wow theory:-

According to this theory, the earliest speech was produced by man’s attempting to imitate some characteristic sound of the creature or the object to which he was referring. It is possibility that he adopting habits and manner which our adult ancestors had many years ago. It is the animal that says, ‘Bow-Wow’ and so very soon a child begin to call it a bow-wow. Certain some words whose roots seem to go back to very ancient time would support such an assumption. e.g.  ‘snake’, wind’, water. e.g. while speaking them, their form is assumed through sounds.

v The ding-dong theory:-

           The second theory is the dingdong theory, usually associated with the eminent German scholar Maxmuller, though others have adopted it. This theory holds that the beginnings of language are to be found in the sense of rhythm, which seems to have been innate in man from a very primitive stage, which is essentially rhythmical. Again this theory falls back on the tendency to imitation. e.g. Observing a certain rhythm in the swaying of the trees in the wind, Everyman ‘ding-donged’ phonetically perhaps there is also some connection with the habit of whistling. This theory brings us close to savage war-dance and the medieval ballads and the sea-chauties.

v The pooh-pooh theory:-

           This theory has become known as ‘pooh-pooh theory’ the expression as employed in the phrase to ‘pooh-pooh a scheme’, is the present-day illustration of the principle. At first pooh-pooh is just an explanation implying contempt or disgust. This theory is based on all forms of speech utterance like emotional interjections pain, surprise, pleasure and wonder. Our present more national language is actually a refinement of our brute noises.

v The Gesture Theory:-

           Finally there is the theory advanced by Wilhelm Want and later restated by Sir Richard Puget in his book ‘Human Speech’. By this theory it means that the earliest method of commutation was by sign and gesture made with hands. Such a language was natural and spontaneous and ever we use it today. When we beckon to a person to come towards us, now through this theory every gesture of the hand is accompanied by the moments of the tongue, lips or sign language to spoken language. e.g. when one lifts the arm to point upwards, the tongue also rises so that the tip of it points towards the top palate.

           Having examined the four theories concerning the origin of human speech, we may conclude that speech was the result of a combination of processes rather than of any particular process. It is a problem for those whose researches lie in the fields of language and philology. F.T. Wood says, There is something to be said for them all but none seems real satisfactory. Perhaps the truth is that each is correct upto a point but only upto a point.