Technologies may be complex or simple, but language is always complex. Every stone age tribe ever encountered has a language equal to English, Latin, or Greek in terms of its expressive potential and grammatical complexity. It can't be proven that language is as old as humans, but it is definitely true that language and human society are inseparable. This belief predicates that humans were created from the start with an innate capacity to use language. The most familiar is found in Genesis 2:20, which tells us that Adam gave names to all living creatures. Many societies throughout history believed that language is the gift of the gods to humans. Neither can be proven or disproved given present knowledge.ġ) Belief in divine creation. Today we will ask two questions: how did this language instinct in humans originate? And how did the first language come into being?Ĭoncerning the origin of the first language, there are two main hypotheses, or beliefs. Noam Chomsky calls this ability the LAD (Language Acquisition Device). Words are definitely not inborn, but the capacity to acquire and language and use it creatively seems to be inborn. With humans, the precise form of language must be acquired through exposure to a speech community.
Bees returning from their first flight out of the hive know perfectly how to perform their complex nectar dances.
Yesterday we discussed the gulf that separates the creative use of language by humans from the inborn signals of animals.