The Evolution of Language - 1707 Words

The Evolution of Language The study of language is very intriguing once you start looking a little farther into it. I read through many books and sources to help make the history of language a little more clear and found many interesting ideas. I found that something as simple as the way you use your hand could shape the brain, language, and human culture (The Hand). I also found many sources on human evolution; and digging a bit deeper into this area showed me many thoughts and ideas I never even have thought about. The book that was most helpful in this area gave me many topics to think about. It had a few chapters in it that really caught my eye. It had historical views on this subject, a modern evolutionary theory,†¦show more content†¦This longer time period for humans essentially gives us about a 21- month gestation period. This pattern has been named the secondary altriciality. It is a fact that the human brain is about 3 times bigger than the apes brain. There is fossil evidence that could po ssibly show the expanding brain size and give insight on social organization, or more specifically, infant care. There are also many possible causes of brain expansion. A popular notion that has been around for a while is the hypothesis seems very obvious. The major difference between apes and humans is that humans made and used stone tools. The brain size growing to the amount of basically tripling in size is also coupled with an increasing complexity of tool technology (Human Evolution). There are now newer ideas that have been thought to be the explanation for this evolution. There have been laboratory tests done on apes and monkeys that showed they are very intelligent creatures, and then tests done in field studies that show the daily lives of these creatures are relatively undermanding. These findings bring up many questions and one particular question is, â€Å"What selective advantage does a high degree of intelligence confer on monkeys and apes?†. The answer to this question is primate social life. Language is a unique characteristic of humans (Human Evolution). There is fossil evidence and archeology that can help answer the â€Å"when did language evolve† questions. Another question that in just asShow MoreRelatedEvolution Of Language And The Brain1447 Words   |  6 PagesSchool. Deacon’s special interests include bio-cultural evolution, brain development, and biosemiotics. He has published 2 major books The Symbolic Species: The Co-Evolution of Language and the Brain† and â€Å"Incomplete Nature: How Mind Emerged from Matter† also coauthored several books and articles revolving semiotics. The book I will be mainly focusing on is The Symbolic Species, which tackles on his theory of the co-evolution of language and the brain. He has 3 tasks in this book first, differentiatesRead MoreThe Evolution Of Human Language2442 Words   |  10 PagesThe Evolution of language has been a subject of debate by many scholars for many years. Although there is no universal agreement on where language evolved, or how language evolved. In fact, the evolution of human language is an extremely vague topic, composed of many different theories and hypothesis, with very few instances of evidence to support them. Even though there is no universal consensus on the origin of language, many scholars can agree that language began by the use of gestures in primatesRead MoreThe Origin of Language in Human Evolution Essay1209 Words   |  5 PagesLanguage is a complex system evolved from animal cognition system not from animal communication, suggesting that only humans with complex brain system were capable of developing (Ulbaek, 1998). Whereas other animal species communicate through vocalised sounds, songs, or gestures specially primates such as apes. Similarly gestures and hand gestures were the form of communication used by early hominids, but Homo habilis and Homo erectus started to use vocalisations and decreasing the frequent use ofRead MoreThe Evolution of Second- and Foreign- Language Teaching1662 Words   |  7 PagesThe Evolution of Second- and Foreign- Language Teaching (The 19th and 20th Century and The New Era of Second Language Teaching) In his treatment of the historical developments in language pedagogy, Stern (1992) isolates three ways in which language pedagogy has aimed to renew and improve itself:1. Innovation through change in teaching methods; 2. Innovation through language-related sciences and research; 3. Technological innovation. During the nineteenth century, the Grammar-TranslationRead More The Evolution of C++ as a Programming Language Essay2165 Words   |  9 PagesThe Evolution of C++ as a Programming Language C++ is a very useful programming language. Many educational curriculums will include either C or C++ as the tool entry-level programmers will use to learn the syntax, semantics, and data structures key to effective programming that is required of computer scientists. C++ is such a diverse language, one cannot help but wonder how it became the popular language it is today, and this paper is going to demonstrate just that. Introduction to CPL Read MoreEvolution of the English Language and the Emergence of â€Å"World Englishes† 1228 Words   |  5 PagesEvolution of the English Language and the Emergence of â€Å"World Englishes† As technology is bringing the world closer together, increasing the contact between peoples of different languages and cultures, the English language has established itself as the tool for communication, becoming the lingua franca of today’s globalized society. This role that English has taken can be traced back to a unique evolutionary history that should be understood on two separate levels. This first level of evolutionRead MoreAcronyms, Idioms and Slang: the Evolution of the English Language.1225 Words   |  5 PagesAcronyms, Idioms and Slang: the Evolution of the English Language. Although the English language is only 1500 years old, it has evolved at an incredible rate: so much so, that, at first glance, the average person in America today would find most Shakespearean literature confusing without the aid of an Old-English dictionary or Cliffs Notes. Yet Shakespear lived just 300 years ago! Some are seeing this is a sign of the decline of the English language, that people are becoming less and less literateRead MoreEssay on Internet Speak: The Evolution of Language on the Internet3129 Words   |  13 PagesInternet Speak: The Evolution of Language on the Internet People everywhere with text message cell phones and online chat services are taking part in the evolution of language on the Internet. To the uninitiated this Internet lingo, or Internet Speak, can look like a completely different and utterly incomprehensible language. Some people claim it is a corruption or a decay of the English language, citing the notorious lack of capitals and proper punctuation or spelling. The truth about InternetRead More Language Follows Evolution of Jackson and Trewe Relationship Paralleling the Colonization to Post-Colonial Movement in Pantomime3124 Words   |  13 PagesLanguage Follows Evolution of Jackson and Trewe Relationship Paralleling the Colonization to Post-Colonial Movement in Pantomime The play opens on the edge of a cliff; anything can happen. Derek Walcott, a playwright from the Caribbean, lives his own life on the edge of a cliff. Walcott’s family placed strong emphasis on education and ancestry. His inherent duality, European and African, mirrors that of post-colonialism (Gilbert 131). It is this duality that Walcott tries to reconcile in his workRead MoreAnnotated Bibliography On Human Language1116 Words   |  5 Pages(2013). â€Å"Evolution of Human Language – A Biolinguistic, Biosemiotic and Neurobiological Perspective†; Language in India, ISSN 1930-2940 Vol. 13:6, June 2013. Prà ©cis by Samantha Sutton, December 2, 2015 TOPIC In this article there are several depictions of how language has come about and how language has formed not only in humans but in the animal kingdom as well. Nehal and Afzal use several other scholars work in defining their research on the topic of human language evolution. In the article