DurÂing the 17th and 18th cenÂturies, EuroÂpean EnlightÂenÂment philosoÂphers disÂcardÂed the oriÂgin stoÂries in reliÂgious texts as wildÂly implauÂsiÂble or simÂply alleÂgorÂiÂcal. But they found themÂselves charged with comÂing up with their own, natÂuÂralÂisÂtic explaÂnaÂtions for the oriÂgins of life, law, moralÂiÂty, etc. And most pressÂingÂly for their inquiries into psyÂcholÂoÂgy and cogÂniÂtion, many of those thinkers sought to explain the oriÂgins of lanÂguage.
The BibÂliÂcal stoÂry of the TowÂer of Babel had long been wideÂly acceptÂed, either litÂerÂalÂly or metaphorÂiÂcalÂly, as indicaÂtive that all humans once spoke the same lanÂguage (The so-called “AdamÂic LanÂguage”). Many comÂpetÂing theÂoÂries came from philosoÂphers like Locke, Rousseau, CondilÂlac, Herder, and the ScotÂtish jurist and philosoÂpher James BurÂnett, known by his heredÂiÂtary title, MonÂbodÂdo.
AnticÂiÂpatÂing DarÂwinÂian evoÂluÂtion as well as comÂparÂaÂtive linÂguisÂtics, MonÂbodÂdo argued that lanÂguage arose as a response to a changÂing enviÂronÂment, and that it came into being, along with human beings, in one place, then diverÂsiÂfied as humans spread across the globe and diverged culÂturÂalÂly. This was known as the theÂoÂry of monoÂgenÂeÂsis, or the “sinÂgle-oriÂgin theÂoÂry” of lanÂguage.
As the narÂraÂtor in the video above, from linÂguisÂtics YouTube chanÂnel NativLang, puts it, even after the stoÂry had been naturalized—and the lanÂguages of the world mapped into proÂto-evoÂluÂtionÂary famÂiÂly trees—“Babel still held one intriguÂing idea over us; that origÂiÂnal lanÂguage.” And yet, rather than search for the mysÂtiÂcal AdamÂic LanÂguage—the revÂeÂlaÂtion of a divinity—as many alchemists and occultists had done, natÂurÂal philosoÂphers like MonÂbodÂdo used emergÂing comÂparÂaÂtive linÂguisÂtics methÂods to attempt a hisÂtorÂiÂcal reconÂstrucÂtion of the first human lanÂguage.
They were less than sucÂcessÂful. GivÂing it up as futile, in 1866, the SociÂety of LinÂguisÂtics in Paris banned all disÂcusÂsion of the issue. “Enter the late Joseph GreenÂberg” to begin the search anew, says NativLang. A 20th-cenÂtuÂry AmerÂiÂcan linÂguist, GreenÂberg used mass comÂparÂiÂson and typolÂoÂgy to comÂpare “superÂfamÂiÂlies.” LatÂer linÂguists took up the chalÂlenge, includÂing MerÂritt Ruhlen, who “comÂpared vocabÂuÂlary from across the globe and reconÂstructÂed 27 proÂto-words” supÂposÂedÂly belongÂing to the first human lanÂguage, called “ProÂto-World.” Ruhlen’s theÂoÂry has since been critÂiÂcalÂly savÂaged, says NativLang, and “conÂfiÂdentÂly tossed… into the bins of fringe linÂguisÂtics, pseuÂdoÂscience… and yet, Babel’s first, and biggest claim lingers.”
The intelÂlecÂtuÂal hisÂtoÂry in this five-minute video is obviÂousÂly overÂsimÂpliÂfied, but it highÂlights some fasÂciÂnatÂing feaÂtures of the curÂrent debate. As Avi LifÂschitz, hisÂtoÂriÂan of EnlightÂenÂment theÂoÂry of lanÂguage, writes, we tend “to assume that our own cogÂniÂtive theÂoÂries are the latÂest word when comÂpared with those of our preÂdeÂcesÂsors. Yet in some areas, the quesÂtions we are now askÂing are not too difÂferÂent from those posed some two or three cenÂturies ago.” In the case of the oriÂgins of lanÂguage, that is most cerÂtainÂly so. CenÂtral to the theÂoÂries of Locke and othÂers, for examÂple, “the preÂcise role of lanÂguage in the brain and in human perÂcepÂtion” remains “one of the most topÂiÂcal quesÂtions in today’s cogÂniÂtive sciÂence.”
Although many scholÂars have givÂen up attemptÂing to reconÂstruct the origÂiÂnal lanÂguage, linÂguists, cogÂniÂtive sciÂenÂtists, and evoÂluÂtionÂary biolÂoÂgists conÂtinÂue to find comÂpelling eviÂdence for the sinÂgle-oriÂgin theÂoÂry. The NativLang video omits perÂhaps the most famous modÂern linÂguist, Noam ChomÂsky, who argued that a chance mutaÂtion occurred some 100,000 years ago, givÂing rise to lanÂguage. Even as lanÂguages have diverged into what’s curÂrentÂly estiÂmatÂed at around 6,000 difÂferÂent tongues, ChomÂsky claimed, they all retain a comÂmon strucÂture, a “uniÂverÂsal gramÂmar.”
WhatÂevÂer it might have soundÂed like, origÂiÂnal lanÂguage would likeÂly have arisen in Sub-SahaÂran Africa, where modÂern humans evolved someÂwhere between 200,000 and 150,000 years ago. In 2011, UniÂverÂsiÂty of AuckÂland biolÂoÂgist Quentin AtkinÂson used linÂguisÂtic techÂniques someÂwhat like Monboddo’s to show that African lanÂguages—espeÂcialÂly click lanÂguages like the South African Xu—have conÂsidÂerÂably more indiÂvidÂual sounds (phonemes) than othÂers. And that lanÂguages around the world have fewÂer and fewÂer phonemes the furÂther they are from southÂern Africa.
Most sciÂenÂtists agree with the basic evoÂluÂtionÂary hisÂtoÂry of human oriÂgins. But like RuhÂlen’s “ProÂto-World,” Atkinson’s linÂguisÂtic theÂoÂry “caused someÂthing of a senÂsaÂtion,” writes SciÂence DaiÂly, and has since come in for severe criÂtique. The debate over many of those EnlightÂenÂment quesÂtions about the oriÂgins of lanÂguage conÂtinÂues. BarÂring some draÂconÂian ban, “the search for the site of oriÂgin of lanÂguage,” and for the lanÂguage itself and the evoÂluÂtionÂary mechÂaÂnisms that proÂduced it, “remains very much alive.”
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RelatÂed ConÂtent:
The Tree of LanÂguages IllusÂtratÂed in a Big, BeauÂtiÂful InfoÂgraphÂic
How LanÂguages Evolve: Explained in a WinÂning TED-Ed AniÂmaÂtion
Josh Jones is a writer and musiÂcian based in Durham, NC. FolÂlow him at @jdmagness