By Carmen Chang,
The origin of languages has always been a fascinating subject throughout the history of mankind and scientific advances have allowed certain enigmas to be solved. From natural languages man, in his constant search for perfection, has tried to create a universal language with fewer disadvantages than the original languages. Progressively, various intellectuals such as filmmakers, writers, philosophers, linguists, logicians, etc. have embarked on the incredible adventure of building an artificial language. This latest creative process has been attempted since the 17th century and remains a challenge today.
Precisely, this detailed study aims to decipher the myths and beliefs associated with the birth of natural languages, as well as investigate the program of a universal language, from a monologue perspective as a multilingual. There are two opposing theories:
- Monogenesis: (mono: unique and genesis: origin) This theory holds that the first ancestral language emerged in the first African society and that, later, this original language branched giving rise to a linguistic diversity, for multiple causes: cultural, geographical, physical, political or spiritual.
- Phylogenetics: This theory opposes the previous one, and states that the origin of language coincides with the appearance of man and the societies scattered around the planet led to the emergence of a great linguistic diversity. The hypothesis would be that from the mother languages, the multiplicity of the existing languages and dialects arose simultaneously.
Languages are constantly evolving, as are the other facets of human society. Historical linguistics is the discipline dedicated to the study of the description and explanation of linguistic changes. Among the causes of these language modifications, there are internal and external factors. The former would be associated with economics and language simplification, such as the preference for using simpler articulations. The latter would have to do with social reasons, such as the tendency to use more prestigious forms; or with geographical and political reasons, such as contact with other languages and cultures.
Myths and beliefs about the origin of natural languages
The origin of language and natural languages has always intrigued the human being, and has been the object of study through various disciplines: anthropology, human genetics, geography, linguistics, psychology and religion, among others. The dilemma arises when trying to explain the acquisition of linguistic ability, since from that initial situation would emanate the evolution of language, and next to this, the structure and formation of the various natural languages existing.
At present, the new discoveries, and the ones of the sciences such as archaeology, genetics, and linguistics themselves are key to deciphering the process of evolution of human language, since humanity today expresses itself through more than 6000 languages, according to the magazine «Ethnologue» (Sarah Romero: 2021). According to some theories, the origin of languages would be attributed to the myth of the Tower of Babel, and, likewise, the hypothesis that Hebrew would be the mother of all languages.
According to, the story of the Tower of Babel, the legendary construction described in the Book of Genesis of the Old Testament, would have been commanded to be built by the ruler of Babylon: Nimrod. This action would symbolize the vengeance of the latter against the Almighty because of the Universal Flood that ended the lives of his loved ones. This would be perceived by God as a challenge and his punitive reaction would not wait:
[…] the tower was used to ascend into the sky, but it was not yet finished when Nimrod ordered his archers to shoot arrows into the sky. In response, the Lord asked His angels to come down to earth and confuse the language of the Babylonians. Therefore, the men involved in the construction of the tower could no longer be understood giving rise to the belief that it was then that the different languages in the world were born. What happened and without a possible understanding of words, caused the construction work to slow down and caused it to be definitively suspended (OKDIARIO, 2021).
If we refer to his name, Tower of «Babel», this would come from the word «balal», which could be interpreted as «confusing». Therefore, its literal meaning would be «Tower of confusion». Although since ancient times this was considered a myth that would symbolize «the condemnation to the arrogance of men», there have been theorists who have accepted it as a true historical fact. Whether or not the Tower of Babel existed generated a debate about whether or not it was here that oral language and the different languages that exist today originated: «A debate that does not seem to generate much discussion at present, […] in the past there was much discussion about whether the Tower of Babel had really been the origin of oral language. So much so that even in 1866, the Linguistic Society of Paris banned articles on the subject».
According to scientists and philologists, it seems evident that the different languages existing today on the planet, come from multiple «protolanguages», but where do the latter come from? There is scientific evidence that there was an early modern civilization in Africa that began to spread little by little. It is true that this evolution of languages is difficult to demonstrate, since, unlike hunting weapons, which have left physical evidence, which reveal a development in this area, the same is not true of languages, since writing was not established until thousands of years later. Therefore, as there are no physical records of natural languages, this origin remains an enigma.
Returning to the controversy surrounding the acquisition of language, there would be two hypotheses: that of the innatism current and that of the behaviorist current. The first defends the idea that the human being would be biologically prepared to develop language, through which Noam Chomsky (1928-) -American linguist scientist and socio-political activist who made important advances in the field of linguistic theory and cognitive science- defines «Universal Grammar (UG)»: abstract concept that would comprise all human languages. This postulate holds that a series of linguistic patterns would coexist in all natural languages, but that in turn these would be distinguished by their own particularities:
Universal Grammar (UG) is the set of principles, rules and conditions that all languages share. This concept constitutes the core of the theory of generative-transformational grammar, with which N. Chomsky proposed to explain the process of acquisition and use of the language. According to this theory, all human beings naturally acquire any language because they have a universal grammar (ELE Dictionary of Key Terms, 1997-2021).
However, the behavioral current holds that the human being learns language, through imitation and repetition. In this way the little ones would be a kind of blank sheet that would be filling little by little with what they learn from their environment and their relatives that would serve as a model and that would allow the development of their linguistic capacity, which otherwise would not be possible:
«verbal behavior, like any other human behavior, is marked by its consequences». M. Baralo (1999), in reviewing the theories of learning second languages, states: «[According to this theory] every child is a tabula rasa that does not contribute anything to the process, and that depends to learn from the stimuli received from outside, from the environment in which it is immersed. […] the quantity and quality of the linguistics […] will be two factors of great effect and consequence in the success that each child achieves in the learning of his language (Dictionary of key terms of ELE, 1997-2021)».
On the other hand, innatism refutes this position with examples such as the following: children, in general, make grammatical errors; however, a child does not say that by imitation or repetition, since he probably has never heard it. In other words, the children would have a certain predisposition to learning one or several languages, given the necessary conditions to develop language, such as being in contact with other humans who speak and serve as referents.
References
- BBC News World, Human language “originated in Africa”, 2011. bbc.com. Available here
- Dictionary of key terms of ELE, Conductismo, Madrid: Centro Virtual Cervantes, 1997-2021. cvc.cervantes.es. Available here
- SÁENZ-BADILLOS Ángel, Hebrew and the Semitic languages in the work of Hervás and Panduro, Madrid: Complutense University of Madrid, Miguel de Cervantes Virtual Library, 2021. cervantesvirtual.com. Available here
