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Language and Culture Prof. R. Hickey SS 2006 The evolution of language Melanie Lüth (Hauptstudium, TN) Ivo Tateo (Hauptstudium, TN) Brigitte Knocke Martina Kleinebreil (Grundstudium, TN/LN) Frauke Skrobaschewsky (Hauptstudium, TN/LN)

Language and Culture Prof. R. Hickey SS 2006 The evolution of language Melanie Lüth (Hauptstudium, TN) Ivo Tateo (Hauptstudium, TN) Brigitte Knocke Martina

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Page 1: Language and Culture Prof. R. Hickey SS 2006 The evolution of language Melanie Lüth (Hauptstudium, TN) Ivo Tateo (Hauptstudium, TN) Brigitte Knocke Martina

Language and Culture Prof. R. HickeySS 2006

The evolution of language

Melanie Lüth (Hauptstudium, TN)Ivo Tateo (Hauptstudium, TN)Brigitte Knocke Martina Kleinebreil (Grundstudium, TN/LN)Frauke Skrobaschewsky (Hauptstudium, TN/LN)

Page 2: Language and Culture Prof. R. Hickey SS 2006 The evolution of language Melanie Lüth (Hauptstudium, TN) Ivo Tateo (Hauptstudium, TN) Brigitte Knocke Martina

Table of Contents

1. The Study of Language2. Language Origin3. The Evolution of Language

The Emerge of Rule The Expansion of Language

4. Diffusion of Language

Page 3: Language and Culture Prof. R. Hickey SS 2006 The evolution of language Melanie Lüth (Hauptstudium, TN) Ivo Tateo (Hauptstudium, TN) Brigitte Knocke Martina

The Study of Language

Melanie Lüth

Page 4: Language and Culture Prof. R. Hickey SS 2006 The evolution of language Melanie Lüth (Hauptstudium, TN) Ivo Tateo (Hauptstudium, TN) Brigitte Knocke Martina

Theories• language must have evolved between 100,000 to 50,000

years ago; some researchers date the evolving around 250,000 years ago

• Different ludicrous views:

1. Noah’s Ark view: Chinese as primitive language was spoken in the Ark and so survived the flood

2. Lord Monboddo: people learned different skills from different animals → to sing and speak from birds by imitating

Page 5: Language and Culture Prof. R. Hickey SS 2006 The evolution of language Melanie Lüth (Hauptstudium, TN) Ivo Tateo (Hauptstudium, TN) Brigitte Knocke Martina

Theories – a bird-like skill

→ only shows that parallel systems can emerge independently

Page 6: Language and Culture Prof. R. Hickey SS 2006 The evolution of language Melanie Lüth (Hauptstudium, TN) Ivo Tateo (Hauptstudium, TN) Brigitte Knocke Martina

Evidences

• external – clues from outside human language

→ evolutionary theory, archaeology, anatomy and physiology, ethology, psychology, anthropology

• internal – information from languages itself → provided by linguistics→ pidgins and creoles are valuable sources

Page 7: Language and Culture Prof. R. Hickey SS 2006 The evolution of language Melanie Lüth (Hauptstudium, TN) Ivo Tateo (Hauptstudium, TN) Brigitte Knocke Martina

The Amoeba Question• Did language elaborate from a simple outline? • Did a mish-mash become neat and orderly?

• bow-wow theoryhunters imitated the sounds of animals they wanted to track down

• Rousseau/ Jespersenfirst languages were singable and more passionate – became simple and methodical

• spaghetti junctionsvarious possibilities existed and were used – in the long run certain features were more likely to be chosen

Page 8: Language and Culture Prof. R. Hickey SS 2006 The evolution of language Melanie Lüth (Hauptstudium, TN) Ivo Tateo (Hauptstudium, TN) Brigitte Knocke Martina

The Rabbit-out-of-hat problem

• language emerged fairly suddenly (like a rabbit out of a hat)• mutation in hominid gene pool • extra use for already enlarged brain

but: • language evolved slowly over millennia

Page 9: Language and Culture Prof. R. Hickey SS 2006 The evolution of language Melanie Lüth (Hauptstudium, TN) Ivo Tateo (Hauptstudium, TN) Brigitte Knocke Martina

Why do languages differ?

• new appearances could not be handled with properly (e.g. (new) thoughts could not be expressed properly)

• differences between and within languages are signs of a flexible and adjustable system

• ‘Tower of Babel’

Page 10: Language and Culture Prof. R. Hickey SS 2006 The evolution of language Melanie Lüth (Hauptstudium, TN) Ivo Tateo (Hauptstudium, TN) Brigitte Knocke Martina

Why do languages differ?• ‘Swiss army knife’ view: specialized linguistic system, which

allows variation• human mind as gadget with numerous specialized devices • humans acquire language through a language-handling

mechanism• difference of language according to an inherited degree of

flexibility

• ‘Auntie Maggie’s remedy’ view: languages differ because human general intelligence produced them

• language is one of many different tasks children have to encounter – use the mind to sort out the way it works

• tasks can be encountered in different ways

Page 11: Language and Culture Prof. R. Hickey SS 2006 The evolution of language Melanie Lüth (Hauptstudium, TN) Ivo Tateo (Hauptstudium, TN) Brigitte Knocke Martina

Why do languages differ?• hard-wired: - pre-programmed

- do not have to be learned- instinctive - (Swiss army knife)

• soft-wired: - can be acquired- have to be learned - Auntie Maggie’s remedy

• past: nature – nurture; hard – soft; instinct – learning controversies

• present: ‘innately guided behaviour’

Page 12: Language and Culture Prof. R. Hickey SS 2006 The evolution of language Melanie Lüth (Hauptstudium, TN) Ivo Tateo (Hauptstudium, TN) Brigitte Knocke Martina

Conclusion

• many theories – scientific or non-scientific – were propounded

• Amoeba Question and the rabbit-out-of-hat problem

• differing: - Swiss Army Knife vs. Auntie Maggie’s remedy; hard-wired vs. soft-wired;

- innately guided behaviour

Page 13: Language and Culture Prof. R. Hickey SS 2006 The evolution of language Melanie Lüth (Hauptstudium, TN) Ivo Tateo (Hauptstudium, TN) Brigitte Knocke Martina

The origin of language

Ivo Tateo

Page 14: Language and Culture Prof. R. Hickey SS 2006 The evolution of language Melanie Lüth (Hauptstudium, TN) Ivo Tateo (Hauptstudium, TN) Brigitte Knocke Martina

The Human’s history of evolution175,000 BP

300,000 BP

1,5 m BP

2 m BP

3 m BP

4 m BP

4,5 m BP

Homo sapiens sapiens (modern humans)

Archaic Homo sapiens

Homo erectus (upright man)

Homo abilis (handy man)

Homo (man)

Australopithecus afarensis

Australopithecus ramidus

Page 15: Language and Culture Prof. R. Hickey SS 2006 The evolution of language Melanie Lüth (Hauptstudium, TN) Ivo Tateo (Hauptstudium, TN) Brigitte Knocke Martina

The principle of Natural Selection

In 1859 Charles Darwin published the book “On the origin of species” in which he demonstrated that Humans are the result of a long evolution.

He explained the principle of Natural Selection with these words:

“Any variation, if profitable to an individual of any species

will tend to the preservation of that individual, and will be

generally inherited by its offspring. I have called this principle

by the term of Natural Selection ”.

Page 16: Language and Culture Prof. R. Hickey SS 2006 The evolution of language Melanie Lüth (Hauptstudium, TN) Ivo Tateo (Hauptstudium, TN) Brigitte Knocke Martina

How did Language emerge? Language emerged

suddenly, as a rabbit out of a hat. This would be possible because humans are endowed with an innate language faculty (Chomsky).

Language is the result of a long process, creeping upwards in complexity over millennia, like a snail creeping up a wall. Language capacity increased very slowly.

The most accredited theory is that of a ‘language bonfire’. After this theory, sparks of language have been flickering for a long time before language begun a fast evolution and then stabilized around 50,000 years ago.

Language evolution alternated between periods of stasis (stagnation) and periods of fast development (Eldredge and Gould).

Page 17: Language and Culture Prof. R. Hickey SS 2006 The evolution of language Melanie Lüth (Hauptstudium, TN) Ivo Tateo (Hauptstudium, TN) Brigitte Knocke Martina

Representation of the ‘Language Bonfire’ on a graph

250,000 BP 100,000 BP

75,000 BP 50,000 BP YearsBP

Complexity of language

Page 18: Language and Culture Prof. R. Hickey SS 2006 The evolution of language Melanie Lüth (Hauptstudium, TN) Ivo Tateo (Hauptstudium, TN) Brigitte Knocke Martina

The development of Language

Key properties of Language

Interaction Persuasion

The Grooming Theory: grooming is for animals a factor of social interaction as language for humans.

Maybe language is a substitution for grooming, since:

- Humans are ‘naked apes’ with little hair for grooming

- Great groups of primates tend to abandon grooming

Page 19: Language and Culture Prof. R. Hickey SS 2006 The evolution of language Melanie Lüth (Hauptstudium, TN) Ivo Tateo (Hauptstudium, TN) Brigitte Knocke Martina

The development of Language

Key properties of language

Interaction Persuasion

The theory of mind

The ability to deceive may be an important prerequisite for language, which is not only confined to humans.

This process (we may also talk about ‘lying’) implicates that the individual is able to put himself into another person’s shoes and act to his own advantage.

Page 20: Language and Culture Prof. R. Hickey SS 2006 The evolution of language Melanie Lüth (Hauptstudium, TN) Ivo Tateo (Hauptstudium, TN) Brigitte Knocke Martina

The search for the missing link

The gestural origin of speech

Sign language is easier than speech

The idea that gestures are universal

Neurological connection between speech and movements

How did language get started? Many support the gestural theory, which claims that sign language is the missing link between the primate communication and human language. These supporters emphasize four reasons:

Page 21: Language and Culture Prof. R. Hickey SS 2006 The evolution of language Melanie Lüth (Hauptstudium, TN) Ivo Tateo (Hauptstudium, TN) Brigitte Knocke Martina

Basic requirements for human language

The human voice-box or larynx is more streamlined than that of other primates; it is also positioned lower than in other primates.

The particular position of the larynx, the complexity of the muscular tongue and the possibility to produce vowels via mouth, allow the human beings to produce three fairly extreme vowels:

[i] [a] [u]

ƀ Sound-producing ƀ Sound-receiving

ƀ Sound-planning ƀ Sound-interpreting

Page 22: Language and Culture Prof. R. Hickey SS 2006 The evolution of language Melanie Lüth (Hauptstudium, TN) Ivo Tateo (Hauptstudium, TN) Brigitte Knocke Martina

ConclusionLanguage appeared about 200,000 years ago and developed very fast between 100,000 and 75,000 years ago (language bonfire theory)

Language probably emerged to satisfy a need of interaction or to influence other individuals

Language probably developed from gesture. Sign language has been the intermediate between the two:

Primate communication Sign language Human language

Sound-producing, sound-receiving, sound-planning, sound-interpreting mechanisms and the particular position of the larynx, among others, allow the human beings to produce sounds which are unique to our species.

Page 23: Language and Culture Prof. R. Hickey SS 2006 The evolution of language Melanie Lüth (Hauptstudium, TN) Ivo Tateo (Hauptstudium, TN) Brigitte Knocke Martina

The evolution of language

The emergence of rules -Brigitte Knocke

Page 24: Language and Culture Prof. R. Hickey SS 2006 The evolution of language Melanie Lüth (Hauptstudium, TN) Ivo Tateo (Hauptstudium, TN) Brigitte Knocke Martina

The emergence of rules A language needs ‘rules’. Communication would break down if there

were no agreed ways of combining linguistic units.

In theory there are nearly endless possibilities to combine words and sounds. However, any full language has narrowed down the range of possibilities to a few allowable combinations

=> the grammar.

Page 25: Language and Culture Prof. R. Hickey SS 2006 The evolution of language Melanie Lüth (Hauptstudium, TN) Ivo Tateo (Hauptstudium, TN) Brigitte Knocke Martina

How could grammar have arisen in the evolution of language?

Simple rules have two requirements:

1. different types of basic units must exist

2. ways of combining the units must be agreed

Page 26: Language and Culture Prof. R. Hickey SS 2006 The evolution of language Melanie Lüth (Hauptstudium, TN) Ivo Tateo (Hauptstudium, TN) Brigitte Knocke Martina

Different types of basic words

Nouns are the basic words, which arose before other types of words were developed

Nouns and verbs together constituted the first ‘grammar’ => humans could mentally distinguish things and people from actions and events for a long time before establishing them as nouns and verbs.

Nouns and verbs are regarded as the universal categories of all languages.

Page 27: Language and Culture Prof. R. Hickey SS 2006 The evolution of language Melanie Lüth (Hauptstudium, TN) Ivo Tateo (Hauptstudium, TN) Brigitte Knocke Martina

The combination of words as a requirement for the emergence of grammar

Grammar emerged when noun-type words were combined with verb-type words.

Two possible ways by which nouns and verbs could have been combined:

 

1. ‘build-up’-route

2. ‘re-analysis’ -route

Page 28: Language and Culture Prof. R. Hickey SS 2006 The evolution of language Melanie Lüth (Hauptstudium, TN) Ivo Tateo (Hauptstudium, TN) Brigitte Knocke Martina

The build-up route

....assumes that a large number of single words accumulated. These were words of different types, some involving things, others actions. At a later stage these words were combined.

 

e.g. child: “mummy open” as a request for “Mummy please open this”

Page 29: Language and Culture Prof. R. Hickey SS 2006 The evolution of language Melanie Lüth (Hauptstudium, TN) Ivo Tateo (Hauptstudium, TN) Brigitte Knocke Martina

The re-analysis route

...assumes that words, mainly nouns, were already being combined, but that sometimes more than one interpretation was possible

e.g. the word ‘singsing’ in Tok Pisin (pidgin, Papua New Guinea)

(singsing = any festival which involves dancing and singing)

ð  “mi singsing” means “I went to the song and dance festival” or “I sang and danced”

Page 30: Language and Culture Prof. R. Hickey SS 2006 The evolution of language Melanie Lüth (Hauptstudium, TN) Ivo Tateo (Hauptstudium, TN) Brigitte Knocke Martina

Consistent ordering of wordsThere are several possibilities as to how a firm word order might have happened in the evolution of languages

the signing of chimps the utterances of Vincent, a child of deaf parents the predispositions of the human mind

Page 31: Language and Culture Prof. R. Hickey SS 2006 The evolution of language Melanie Lüth (Hauptstudium, TN) Ivo Tateo (Hauptstudium, TN) Brigitte Knocke Martina

1. The signing of chimps - Nim Chimpsky

At first sight Nim’s signing was quite unordered.

However Nim had some preferences: -- food was placed first: “grape eat, banana Nim eat, apple me eat” --“more” at the beginning: “more eat, more tickle, more drink,..” --his own name at the end --repetition of words: “eat Nim eat, Nim eat Nim”

ð  Nim’s ordering resembles the process found when a language acquires new word-order rules:

mild stylistic preferences change into strong preferences which stabilize, become a habit and form a pattern which influences the formation of others.

Page 32: Language and Culture Prof. R. Hickey SS 2006 The evolution of language Melanie Lüth (Hauptstudium, TN) Ivo Tateo (Hauptstudium, TN) Brigitte Knocke Martina

2. The utterances of Vincent, child of deaf parents

Vincent: hearing child of deaf parents who taught him sign language. He did not speak and heard sounds only by watching television. He was first exposed to speak English when he was over three years old.

at first his speech was barely intelligible and only slowly his speech became clear

short utterances: “You –uh-oh” limited vocabulary: „puter“ was a general, all-purpose verb. “You”: several meanings: you, he, she tendency to “copy-around” a word, to put one form on both sides of

another “You house you”

Page 33: Language and Culture Prof. R. Hickey SS 2006 The evolution of language Melanie Lüth (Hauptstudium, TN) Ivo Tateo (Hauptstudium, TN) Brigitte Knocke Martina

The way Vincent put words together was bizarre.

However when his repeats and copying around were omitted, a clear word ordering preference appeared

=> he constructed many sentences according to a basic, but private, plan

Page 34: Language and Culture Prof. R. Hickey SS 2006 The evolution of language Melanie Lüth (Hauptstudium, TN) Ivo Tateo (Hauptstudium, TN) Brigitte Knocke Martina

=> Both the chimp and the child show that an optional word order can become a preferred order which later becomes a certain rule.

Page 35: Language and Culture Prof. R. Hickey SS 2006 The evolution of language Melanie Lüth (Hauptstudium, TN) Ivo Tateo (Hauptstudium, TN) Brigitte Knocke Martina

3. Human mind setOur human-mind set dictates how we see the world and create the language.‘Ontological categories’, such as people, things, actions, events, provide a universal initial structure of the language of thought on which language is based.

The innate thought structure also covers the way in which words may be combined.

e.g. The cat sat on the mat. The dog lay under the table.not: The mat lay under the cat. The table stood over the dog.

 => The location of ‘small onto large’ may be due to the human mind-set. Human thoughts run along certain routes, which are likely to affect the order of participants in a grammar.

Page 36: Language and Culture Prof. R. Hickey SS 2006 The evolution of language Melanie Lüth (Hauptstudium, TN) Ivo Tateo (Hauptstudium, TN) Brigitte Knocke Martina

Preferences and pre-linguistic rules ‘animate first preference’:

It is more normal to say “Patsy was hit on the head by a ball” than “A ball hit Patsy on the head”

  => The ‘animate first preference’ is not due to any obvious linguistic factor, but the human mind-set plays an important role.

The ‘animate first’ preference is linked to an ‘actor first’ principle, because in real life animates act on lifeless things more often than the other way round.

The preferences are based on pre-linguistic mind-sets, which explain why so many languages show similarities.

Page 37: Language and Culture Prof. R. Hickey SS 2006 The evolution of language Melanie Lüth (Hauptstudium, TN) Ivo Tateo (Hauptstudium, TN) Brigitte Knocke Martina

Summary Language began when words were combined. There are several theories on how grammar could have arisen:

-out of ‘build-ups’: putting individual words together,

-out of ‘re-analyses’ of combined nouns. At first many word combinations were possibly repetitive and

inconsistent. The examples of the chimp and the child Vincent show how rules may

have became fixed: optional orders became strong preferences which later became rules.

The original preferences were probably on pre-linguistic ‘mind-sets’ => explains why so many languages show similarities

Page 38: Language and Culture Prof. R. Hickey SS 2006 The evolution of language Melanie Lüth (Hauptstudium, TN) Ivo Tateo (Hauptstudium, TN) Brigitte Knocke Martina

The evolution of language

The expansion of language – Martina Kleinebreil

Page 39: Language and Culture Prof. R. Hickey SS 2006 The evolution of language Melanie Lüth (Hauptstudium, TN) Ivo Tateo (Hauptstudium, TN) Brigitte Knocke Martina

First steps

- Humans named themselves - parts of body- the immediate environment

Page 40: Language and Culture Prof. R. Hickey SS 2006 The evolution of language Melanie Lüth (Hauptstudium, TN) Ivo Tateo (Hauptstudium, TN) Brigitte Knocke Martina

Inwards and Outwards

Inwards and Outwards The human body, and the space surrounding it,

presumably formed the basis of further meaning extensions.

Page 41: Language and Culture Prof. R. Hickey SS 2006 The evolution of language Melanie Lüth (Hauptstudium, TN) Ivo Tateo (Hauptstudium, TN) Brigitte Knocke Martina

Outwards: Humans body-parts move outwards to features of

environment.

e.g.Tok Pisin (Papua New Guinea)

Page 42: Language and Culture Prof. R. Hickey SS 2006 The evolution of language Melanie Lüth (Hauptstudium, TN) Ivo Tateo (Hauptstudium, TN) Brigitte Knocke Martina

het = headhet bilong diwai - top of a tree

han = handhan bilong diwai – branch of a treehan bilong pik – front legs of a pig

Or even in English: head of state

Page 43: Language and Culture Prof. R. Hickey SS 2006 The evolution of language Melanie Lüth (Hauptstudium, TN) Ivo Tateo (Hauptstudium, TN) Brigitte Knocke Martina

Inwards: Outer behaviour is a regular source for talk about the

inner mental self.

e.g. Physical sight expressions

I see what Helen means.Peter is still in the dark.

Page 44: Language and Culture Prof. R. Hickey SS 2006 The evolution of language Melanie Lüth (Hauptstudium, TN) Ivo Tateo (Hauptstudium, TN) Brigitte Knocke Martina

Physical holding - mental grasping: - Did you grasp what he meant?

- Did you get this?- Paul hold on to his point of view.

Page 45: Language and Culture Prof. R. Hickey SS 2006 The evolution of language Melanie Lüth (Hauptstudium, TN) Ivo Tateo (Hauptstudium, TN) Brigitte Knocke Martina

Adpositions (Pre- & Postpositions) - a limited number of prepositions

- re-apply of the old ones, instead of inventing new ones.

Page 46: Language and Culture Prof. R. Hickey SS 2006 The evolution of language Melanie Lüth (Hauptstudium, TN) Ivo Tateo (Hauptstudium, TN) Brigitte Knocke Martina

Tok Pisin:mi go long taun – I go to town

mi kam long town – I come from town

mi stap long haus – I stayed at home

mi paitim dok long stik – I hit the dog with a stick

Page 47: Language and Culture Prof. R. Hickey SS 2006 The evolution of language Melanie Lüth (Hauptstudium, TN) Ivo Tateo (Hauptstudium, TN) Brigitte Knocke Martina

Nouns – durable: dog, skyVerbs – rapid change: swim, go, hit properties – hot day, green house

properties are less time-stable than nouns, but more time-stable than most verbs

Page 48: Language and Culture Prof. R. Hickey SS 2006 The evolution of language Melanie Lüth (Hauptstudium, TN) Ivo Tateo (Hauptstudium, TN) Brigitte Knocke Martina

1st possibility Subdivision into stative and non- stative verbs

non-stative: kill, shootstative: be-green, be-ill

(Mandarin Chinese, Yoruba)

Page 49: Language and Culture Prof. R. Hickey SS 2006 The evolution of language Melanie Lüth (Hauptstudium, TN) Ivo Tateo (Hauptstudium, TN) Brigitte Knocke Martina

2nd possibility adjectives as an extra category

border-line between nouns/adj.and verbs/adj. seems arbitrary

e.g. a gold watch noun a lasting peace verb

Page 50: Language and Culture Prof. R. Hickey SS 2006 The evolution of language Melanie Lüth (Hauptstudium, TN) Ivo Tateo (Hauptstudium, TN) Brigitte Knocke Martina

In the early days verbs and adjectives were probably indistinguishable.To reach a clear distinction later word- endings were added.

Page 51: Language and Culture Prof. R. Hickey SS 2006 The evolution of language Melanie Lüth (Hauptstudium, TN) Ivo Tateo (Hauptstudium, TN) Brigitte Knocke Martina

But a language is still not complete with just a few parts of speech, and various attachements for its verbs.

Page 52: Language and Culture Prof. R. Hickey SS 2006 The evolution of language Melanie Lüth (Hauptstudium, TN) Ivo Tateo (Hauptstudium, TN) Brigitte Knocke Martina

So from this point on it´s still a long way to today´s language

Page 53: Language and Culture Prof. R. Hickey SS 2006 The evolution of language Melanie Lüth (Hauptstudium, TN) Ivo Tateo (Hauptstudium, TN) Brigitte Knocke Martina

Diffusion

Frauke Skrobaschewsky

Page 54: Language and Culture Prof. R. Hickey SS 2006 The evolution of language Melanie Lüth (Hauptstudium, TN) Ivo Tateo (Hauptstudium, TN) Brigitte Knocke Martina

Moving outwards

roughly 75.000 years ago humans moved out of Africa and into Asia

first to Asia Minor then westwards to Europe eastwards to the Far East and Australia

Page 55: Language and Culture Prof. R. Hickey SS 2006 The evolution of language Melanie Lüth (Hauptstudium, TN) Ivo Tateo (Hauptstudium, TN) Brigitte Knocke Martina
Page 56: Language and Culture Prof. R. Hickey SS 2006 The evolution of language Melanie Lüth (Hauptstudium, TN) Ivo Tateo (Hauptstudium, TN) Brigitte Knocke Martina

the last continent to be populated was America crossed from northeastern Siberia into northwest

Alaska went by boat via the Bering Strait smalls groups probably spoke dialects of the same language

Page 57: Language and Culture Prof. R. Hickey SS 2006 The evolution of language Melanie Lüth (Hauptstudium, TN) Ivo Tateo (Hauptstudium, TN) Brigitte Knocke Martina
Page 58: Language and Culture Prof. R. Hickey SS 2006 The evolution of language Melanie Lüth (Hauptstudium, TN) Ivo Tateo (Hauptstudium, TN) Brigitte Knocke Martina

The hunt for Universals

language universals = features which occur in all languages

any human can learn any language, so something must link all languages together

a possible list of “narrow“ absolute universals:

Page 59: Language and Culture Prof. R. Hickey SS 2006 The evolution of language Melanie Lüth (Hauptstudium, TN) Ivo Tateo (Hauptstudium, TN) Brigitte Knocke Martina

All languages

1) have consonants and vowels 2) combine sounds into larger units 3) have nouns words for people & objects 4) have verbs words for actions 5) can combine words

Page 60: Language and Culture Prof. R. Hickey SS 2006 The evolution of language Melanie Lüth (Hauptstudium, TN) Ivo Tateo (Hauptstudium, TN) Brigitte Knocke Martina

All languages

6) can say who did that to who 7) can negate utterances 8) can ask questions 9) involve structure-dependance 10) involve recursions

Page 61: Language and Culture Prof. R. Hickey SS 2006 The evolution of language Melanie Lüth (Hauptstudium, TN) Ivo Tateo (Hauptstudium, TN) Brigitte Knocke Martina

finding absolute linguistic universals is hard because they differ in details from language to language

Page 62: Language and Culture Prof. R. Hickey SS 2006 The evolution of language Melanie Lüth (Hauptstudium, TN) Ivo Tateo (Hauptstudium, TN) Brigitte Knocke Martina

Constraints

language must have constraints which prevent it from flying apart in different directions

constraints are hard to find promising approach is the search for constraining links

language constructions are often linked tp one another in implicational chains

Noam Chomsky‘s ‘paramter setting‘ best known implicational theory

Page 63: Language and Culture Prof. R. Hickey SS 2006 The evolution of language Melanie Lüth (Hauptstudium, TN) Ivo Tateo (Hauptstudium, TN) Brigitte Knocke Martina

Chomsky‘s parameter setting children have an inbuilt knowledge of some

basic language principles in addition they are instinctively aware of some

key ‘either/or‘ options they need to find out which options their own

language selects the extra information follows automatically

Page 64: Language and Culture Prof. R. Hickey SS 2006 The evolution of language Melanie Lüth (Hauptstudium, TN) Ivo Tateo (Hauptstudium, TN) Brigitte Knocke Martina

The future

there are about 6.000 languages spoken today in this century 90% of all languages will cease to

exist 3.000 languages are ‘moribund‘: no longer

learned as a first language by the new generation of speakers

the few languages that will remain will spread across the world

Page 65: Language and Culture Prof. R. Hickey SS 2006 The evolution of language Melanie Lüth (Hauptstudium, TN) Ivo Tateo (Hauptstudium, TN) Brigitte Knocke Martina

Sources

Aitchison, John. The seeds of speech – Language origin and evolution. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge: 1996.

http://www.ucl.ac.uk/alumni/get-involved/world-map/world-map.gif