How did language come about?

[Anonymous No.12386179]

I have my own theory that nobody seems to have addressed which is basically that it was an intentional decision created by one individual, likely a leader of a specific tribe who decided it would be convenient to have a sound he could use to refer to something. So, for instance, he wants a term for "rock", so he simply comes up with a noise for it and gets the attention of the other tribe members by making that noise while interacting with the rock in some way. Eventually through pattern recognition abilities the others catch on and with that we have the first language with a grand total of one word. This process repeats many times, likely over many generations with more and more words added over time.

I haven't heard of anyone explaining why this idea wouldn't work. I've heard it said that humans couldn't have sat down and decided to make a language because they would have already needed a language in the first place, but that only applies if the idea was executed by a group rather than a single specific individual.

[Anonymous No.12386681]

>>12386179
Not quite, it started because of evolution, animals already communicated using noises and it just gradually became conversation and got more complicated.

[Anonymous No.12386712]

>>12386179
repetition

[Anonymous No.12386765]

>>12386179
That is not a language - even animals have sounds for things. What makes language language is grammar. So it doesn't go like Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra, but you can construct specific words and phrases as needed that will be understood winthout having to lerned and memorized first.

[Anonymous No.12386770]

>>12386179
That is not a language - even animals have sounds for things. What makes language language is grammar. So it doesn't go like Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra, but you can construct specific words and phrases as needed that will be understood without having to be learned and memorized first.

[Anonymous No.12387820]

>>12386179
when I was a little kid and I asked my mom, she said that a caveman pointed at a bear and said "bear" and then the other caveman knew that the bear is henceforth known as "bear">>12386179

[Anonymous No.12389534]

bump. will answer in few minutes

[Anonymous No.12389544]

>>12386770
> even animals have sounds for things.
this is correct
> What makes language language is grammar.
And this is some bullshit.
Why that obvious bullshit is so popular? Because bible tells that only humans have language.

[Anonymous No.12389569]

>>12386179
My theory nobody speaks of, and I'd better have it in people's minds than my name on some tablet.
Language appears when you pronounce something involuntarily (like "ah!") and I consciously understand that you're affraid.
That theory goes further and shows that there's no distinct border between language and cognitive things that predated it: like a hunter/predator following the victim's traces or some brainless beast understanding where it's tastier. So I suppose it's the question of definition, where you draw the line in the sea of signs.

[Anonymous No.12389781]

>>12386179
>it was an intentional decision created by one individual, likely a leader of a specific tribe who decided it would be convenient to have a sound he could use to refer to something.
Yes, this is probably true, but it probably happened so many times totally independently across so many different groups, and maybe among different leaders and wise people within groups, and once the general framework gets rolling (associate specific sound, and later symbols, with objects/concepts), it quickly becomes a group thing as people get the idea and start adding onto it.

And once it happens even once within a group, it probably sticks forever, especially since each child will be taught it and learn it quickly. So it's probably not 100% ingrained, but it probably happened so early on, so many times, so quickly that it likely exponentially spread like wildfire tens or hundreds of thousands of years ago. Same with things like tool use, hunting and agricultural strategies, etc.

[Anonymous No.12389798]

>>12389544
>Why that obvious bullshit is so popular? Because bible tells that only humans have language.
Nope, it's been shown that certain intelligent animals do use grammar when they communicate.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/speaking-of-science/wp/2016/03/08/these-birds-use-a-linguistic-rule-thought-to-be-unique-to-humans/
http://web.mit.edu/6.034/www/6.s063/final-paper/birdsong.pdf

https://blog.cambly.com/2016/09/21/dolphin-language-may-have-grammar/

Certain birds, and dolphins, have language-focused brain regions that appear similar to what's found in human brains.

But all of this can't be true because of some mythical tale in a book? Humans and animals really aren't all that drastically different. Our brains aren't organized that differently. If us humans all died out, it's totally plausible some other species would eventually become as intelligent as us, if you look hundreds of millions of years in the future.