When and how did human language evolve?. It’s been called “The hardest question in science”.

When and how did human language evolve?

It’s been called“The hardest

question in science”.

Current best guess for

development of human language:

sometime between 200,000 and 50,000 years

ago.

But no one knows how language developed.

• There are two main lines of arguments:

Continuous: Language gave humans some evolutionary advantage over a long period of time (song? Hunting and scavenging? (Bipedalism led to “L” shaped vocal track.)

Discontinuous: Language appeared suddenly fully formed in perhaps a single individual due to a genetic mutation.

“Ke” Family Foxp2 mutation

Middle Paleolithic: Mousterian tools

Nicaraguan Sign Language A clue to the origin of language?

A. Diffusion of Proto Indo European (c. 6000-4000 BCE)

Sir William Jones (1746-1794)

William Jones was a British judge stationed in Calcutta,

India in 1780. A bright fellow with

classical training in ancient Greek and Latin, Jones

began to study Sanskrit so he could brush up on native Indian law codes--many of

which were written in Sanskrit script—so that he

could fairly apply British law in the region.

Jones was shocked to discover a regular pattern of similarities between ancient Sanskrit words and ancient words in classical Western languages.

English Sanskrit

Greek Latin Armenian Old Irish Lithuanian

me mam eme me is - manefather pitar pater pater hayr athair -mother matar mater mater mayr mathair motinabrother bhratar - frater elbayr brathair brolis

daughter duhitar thugater- - dustr - duktercow gav- bous bos kov bo guovs(Latv)eoh (OE ) asvas hippos equus - ech asva, marehound svan kuon canis sun con sunfoot pad pod- ped- otn - -new navas ne(w)os novus nor nue naujasbears bharati pherei fert bere berid -two duva duo duo erku do duthree trayas treis tres erek tri trys

“No philologer (student of languages) could examine them all three, without believing them

to have sprung from some common source, which, perhaps, no longer exists”

-William Jones, 1786

Jones had set in motion the search for a proposed ancestral Indo European language

called Proto Indo European (aka: PIE).

Jakob Grimm

pitar (Sanskrit)pater (Latin)

pater (Greek) Vater (German)

fa∂ir (Old Norse)

Jakob Grimm, nineteenth century German scholar (and writer of fairy tales) suggested that sound shifts, particularly the softening of consonants over time,

might provide a way of reconstructing extinct languages.

padre (Spanish)pere (French)fadar (Gothic) father (English)athir (Old Irish)

Through this process, known as “deep reconstruction” or “backward reconstruction” a genetic classification or tree

of Indo European languages was reconstructed.

As linguists reconstructed Proto Indo European vocabulary, they were able

to partially reconstructed their culture as well.

What do you think linguists deduced about the language of the Proto

European culture based the common vocabulary of Indo European

languages?

Indo European languages have common root words (cognates) for snow and winter but not for sea or

ocean.

They have cognates for dog, horse, bear and cow but not for camel, lion, elephant or tiger.

They have cognates for oak, pine and willow but not palm or banyan tree.

Distribution of Indo European Countries Today (Dark green: Core / Light Green: Fringe)

Two Russian linguists, Vladislav Illichsvitych and Aharon Dolgopolsky, working independently,

reconstructed an even older language encompassing even more current language families, a proposed

ancestral language of PIE called Nostratic.

Among their findings:

Nostratic had no names for domesticated animals like cows, sheep, and pigs. Conclusion?

Nostratic had the same word for “dog and wolf”. Conclusion?

Most ancient proposed “mother tongue”: Nostratic

PIE (Proto Indo-European

Languages

Non PIE

Languages

How little we know!

Conquest (aka Kurgan) Theory

Agricultural Theory

A. Diffusion of PIE: Takeaways

1. Both theories assume relocation + contagious diffusion (by conquest

or by adoption of a superior culture)

2. Because of poor communication, after diffusion of PIE, isolation led

to increasingly distinct languages.

3. PIE represents only tiny piece of larger puzzle yet to be solved.

English Words from PIE via Anglo Saxons"Core vocabulary“ such as

• Numerals

• Words for body parts (i.e. heart, lung, head, foot)

• Natural phenomenon (i.e. air, night, star, snow, sun, moon, mind), and

• Words for bodily functions (i.e. fart, and f#ck! From Indo-European "peig" or "pu" meaning respectively "hostile, evil-minded" and "to soil, defile")

Romance Branch of the Indo European Language Family

Germanic Branch of

Indo European Language

Family

Genetic Classification of EnglishFamily: Indo European Branch: Germanic Group: West Germanic Subgroup: Low Germanic

The surviving language most closely related to English?

Frisian.

Frisian is spoken by about a half million people in the NW

corner of The Netherlands.

Linguists believe Frisian sounds much like Old English used

to sound.

Timeline of English

Perhaps no other language has had so many streams of influence as English. This may explain why English has a richer vocabulary (150,000 words) than any other language.

B. Anglo-Saxon Invasions of the British Isles

(5th c. CE)

Hearth of invading tribes: modern day

Denmark

B. Anglo Saxon Invasions Takeaways:

1. English dialects first developed because different Germanic invaders settled in different regions.2. Together these dialects of the Germanic invaders became Old English (root of modern English).

English Words from the Celts and Anglo Saxon Invaders

• From Celts (very little impact on modern English): a very few place names (i.e. “Avon” meant river in Celtic, also Thames, London, Dover)

• From Anglo Saxons: 90% of most common English words, i.e. son, daughter, drink, come, go, sing, like, love, on, in

C. Christian Missionaries (after 597 CE)

Christian Missionaries (after 597 CE)

C. Christian Missionaries Takeaways

1. Introduced Latin alphabet to English

Write words borrowed from Christian missionaries from the video:

“History of English in Ten Minutes”

D. Viking Invasions (787 CE)

Invaded from present day

Norway

Invaded NE coast of England

D. Viking Invasions Takeaways:

1. Although defeated in their attempt to conquer Britain, they enriched English with new words.

2. West Saxon became dominant dialect at this time.

Write borrowed Viking words from video: “History of English in Ten Minutes”

E. Norman Conquest and Occupation of Britain (1066 and for next three

hundred years)

Invaded from present day Normandy

E. Norman Occupation Takeaways:

1. Elite spoke French; commoners spoke English during this period.2. This period added 10,000 “fancy and elegant” words to English making English a kind of hybrid language (Germanic/Romance)

Write borrowed Norman (French) words from video: “History of English in Ten

Minutes”

F. From Middle to Early Modern English (12th to 18th century)

F. Middle to Early Modern English Takeaways: 1. Shakespeare's genius adds many new words and

phrases to English, as does the need for new words for scientific discoveries and inventions.2. With help of King James Bible and Samuel Johnson's

Dictionary, BRP (British Received Pronunciation), the dialect of Oxford, Cambridge, and London becomes standardized.

(Write borrowed words from this period from video: “History of English in Ten Minutes”)

G. British Colonization (from 19th c.)

Areas of British Colonization

G. British Colonization Takeaways: 1. English diffused throughout the British Empire.2. English absorbed many new words from the

peoples and languages from throughout the British Empire.


H. American English (1600-present)

Noah Webster

In writing his famous dictionary, Webster

consciously sought to create a unique

American dialect of English

New England was almost entirely settled by settlers from England, mostly from East Anglia in southeastern England. These areas stayed in closer contact with England and the New England dialect absorbed many of the changes that occurred to 18th century British English.

The settlers to the Mid Atlantic region were more diverse, including Scots, Irish, Quakers from Northern England as well as Germans, Dutch and Swedes. The Midlands dialect from this region spread westward to become the standard dialect of American English.

The southern dialect of American English became distinctive because the original colonies in the South were relatively isolated from the other colonies.

Note: East Coast Midlands speech zone was hearth for

speech patterns throughout the Western United States.

H. American English Takeaways: 1. American English is based on 17th c. British English (and changed less than the British English it left behind.)2. Three East Coast dialects of English developed from different source regions in Britain.3. Standard American pronunciation derived from East Coast Midlands speech area which diffused westward.4. Western U.S. shows less language variation because it drew people from all over East coast and because there was greater mobility and less isolation when it was settled.5. Mass media is standardizing English and reducing regional variation.


I. The Globalization of English (ongoing)

Distribution of English Speakers

Internet Content by Language

Internet Hosts by

Language

Language and Politics

Non-English Speakers

Political issue of speakers of Spanish and other languages vs. those desiring English only

Ever evolving English: Words added to Merriam-Webster Dictionary in last three years

2012 2013 2014man cavecloud computingE-readermash-upbucket listaha moment selfiegeocaching

staycationstormaggedonF-bombearwormsextingflexitariangame changerlife coach

crowdfundingfrackingfreeganhashtagselfititissteampunktweepYoope

I. Globalization of English Takeaways:

1. English is spoken by about 400 million people as first language and by almost 1 billion as second language. 2. English is international language of business, tourism, science, advertising and popular culture.3. English is still #1 internet language but is becoming less dominant.4. English words have become increasingly integrated into other languages Spanglish, Fraglais, Denglish, etc.)


When and how did human language evolve?. It’s been called “The hardest question in science”.

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