The Origins of Speech

Abstract

The debate surrounding the origins of speech is endless. The issue has brought a great number of researches and speculations from every corner of the world. Despite such a large number of researches, there is no clear conclusion and common point of agreement that suggests how exactly did speech came into existence and when. Researches that are widely known and that have recently surfaced are included in the paper to provide an understanding of the view points of various researches. Determinants that might have resulted in the evolution of speech are also discussed and lastly linguist's views to the researches going on around the topic are also included.

Abstract2

Introduction4

Discussion5

Evolutionary theories on the origin of speech5

Other theories on the origin of speech6

Biological determinants in the emergence of speech8

Social determinants in speech evolution9

Speculations from linguists9

Conclusion10

References12

The Origins of Speech

Introduction

There was a time when man did not have the ability to think, speak and write. How long ago that must have been is something beyond human comprehension. The origin of speech is a widely debated and controversial topic. It is hard to answer the question of how exactly did this remarkable ability to communicate developed and evolved. So much debate surrounded the topic in the 19th century that in the 1860's both the British Academy and Société de Linguistique de Paris established a rule restricting their members to discuss on the topic. This was done because of the speculative nature of the topic that led to endless, futile theorizing. A century later, Noam Chomsky, one of the most influential linguists of the century, still considered the explanation of the origins of speech and the related brain mechanisms to be 'beyond serious inquiry'. But in recent years, a great number of researchers from many disciplines have taken up this topic and have tried new ways and new techniques to understand its development and origins. Interest in language evolution, language ability and language origins has increased manifold and the number of papers produced dealing with the topic has raised to a considerable extent. Yet, despite all the increase in research, there is still no particular direction and there still exists plenty of room for interpretation. There is still mystery surrounding the issue since there are no fossils of speech or as brain scientist Terrence Deacon of the University of California, Berkeley puts it 'with all the fingerprints wiped off'.

Discussion

Although there is disagreement over the issues surrounding the topic, there is a general agreement that speech did not arise fully formed. Its development was an ongoing, incremental process that still continues to evolve. Researchers have investigated the origins of this ability possessed in humans drawing on works in linguistics, cognitive science, evolutionary biology and animal behavior. The understanding of what led our ancestors to utter words that were also understood by another person and from where we humans got this ability to create and transfer messages by producing complex sounds are the subjects of research since a long ...