lpetrich
Contributor
Human languages are far ahead of anything similar that any other present-day species uses, with the possible exception of dolphin language. Attempts to teach chimpanzees and other (nonhuman) great apes sign language have had only limited success. They can learn lots of signs, but their ability to combine the signs is very limited at best. Three or four year old human children are far ahead of them there.
But that has not gotten in the way of many biologists and linguists, and they have developed various theories, even giving some of them whimsical names. Here's what I've found:
This list is missing echolocation. The ping-ping theory?
Various animal sounds fall into some of these categories, like uh-oh and hey-you and ping-ping.
Sources:
Origin of language
The Origins of Language - C. George Boeree
Historical Linguistics (PowerPoint)
Linguistic Hypotheses on the Origins of Language | Free Language
The Origin of Language (MSWord)
The Origin of Language : Sturtevant, E. H. : Free Download & Streaming : Internet Archive
The Evolution of Language
But that has not gotten in the way of many biologists and linguists, and they have developed various theories, even giving some of them whimsical names. Here's what I've found:
- ma-ma -- attaching the easiest syllables to significant objects (?)
- ta-ta -- imitation of body movements like gestures (Sir Richard Paget 1930)
- bow-wow -- imitation of sounds (?, Max Müller 1861)
- pooh-pooh -- interjections, instinctive emotive cries (?, Max Müller 1861)
- ding-dong -- sounds and meanings corresponding, like sound symbolism (?, Max Müller 1861)
- yo-he-ho -- rhythmic chants, like when coordinating efforts in heavy work (?, Max Müller 1861)
- la-la, sing-song -- pleasant audio doodling (Otto Jespersen 1921)
- hey-you -- assertion of identity and calling to others (Géza Révész 1956)
- uh-oh -- warnings (?)
- hocus-pocus -- magical / religious acts (C. George Boeree)
- eureka -- consciously invented (?)
- watch-the-birdie -- lying (Edgar A. Sturtevant 1922)
- pop -- language popped into existence as an evolutionary byproduct (Stephen Jay Gould)
This list is missing echolocation. The ping-ping theory?
Various animal sounds fall into some of these categories, like uh-oh and hey-you and ping-ping.
Sources:
Origin of language
The Origins of Language - C. George Boeree
Historical Linguistics (PowerPoint)
Linguistic Hypotheses on the Origins of Language | Free Language
The Origin of Language (MSWord)
The Origin of Language : Sturtevant, E. H. : Free Download & Streaming : Internet Archive
The Evolution of Language