There are different theories of language origin. Some believed that language is a divine gift given to humans by God, but others think language got created along with human evolution. In whichever way, at some point communication happened; humans developed the art of speech. The key question is where it all started. The answer is simple: nobody knows and will never know when and how languages began. Since the attempt of discussing the theories of language origin by Paris Linguistic Society was banned, theories are now referred to as 'invention hypothesis' or by their nicknames.

What Are the Different Theories of Language Origin?

Below are some of the documented theories of language origin; their facts as well as shortcomings.

1. The Bow-Wow theory

The Bow-Wow theory is one of the theories of the origin of language that states speech developed as a form of imitation. It explains that our ancestors mastered the art of communication by imitating the natural sounds in the environment. It is believed the first speech was onomatopoeic and an imitation of animal sounds such as bang, meow, moo, and cuckoo. Animal imitations were the most significant contributor to this theory.

Limitation of this theory

The world has few onomatopoeic words, and the words differ in different languages. Also, the sound made by an animal is described in different languages. For instance, a dog's bark in China is 'wang-wang' while in Russia is 'au au'. The other limitation is that not all onomatopoeic words are derived from natural sounds but are of more recent origin.

2. The Ding-Dong theory

The theory explains how people developed a language based on the qualities of things in their environment. Plato and Pythagoras supported this theory by noting that the origin of language was based on onomatopoeia. This means that people started naming things connected to the significant sound made in the environment. For example, words like 'oink', 'boom' and 'crash'. A linguist, Max Miller favored this theory by noting how certain sounds link to the word's meaning.

Limitation of the theory

The major weakness of the Ding-Dong theory is that it does not provide evidence for silent objects such as moon and sun or abstract ideas such as knowledge and love. This theory is not capable of explaining the origin of such concepts. It also does not give credible evidence in all languages of how sound and meaning are connected. Another limitation is that it does not define letters or words for grammar in the English language and the sounds vary from one language to another.

3. The La-La theory

Otto Jespersen, a Danish linguist, developed the La-La theory. He firmly believed that language might have originated from the sounds related to playing, poetic sensibility, love and song especially.

Limitation of the theory

David Crystal noticed that the theory does not explain the cavity between the rational and emotional aspects of speech expression as discussed in his book, How Language Works (Penguin, 2005).

4. The Pooh-Pooh theory

It is a theory that suggests speech developed from the sounds made by early humans due to involuntary emotional feelings. Humans began a form of speech through emotional response influenced by their surroundings. Verbal reactions such as surprises, fear, pain, pleasure, dislike, happiness and laughter are considered to be the beginning of speech regarding this theory. Emotional expressions such as 'ouch' used to showing pain, 'ha ha ha' for showing laughter or happiness or 'oh' showing surprise are believed to have marked the starting of speech.

Limitation of the theory

The most significant criticism facing this theory is that no language is made up of so many interjections as Pooh-Pooh tries to explain. The emotional response only makes up a small unit of different languages. Another thing is that emotional responses are dependent on the language; this means they differ in different parts of the world. For instance, in English pain is 'ouch' while it is 'oi' in Russia and 'eee' in Cherokee.

5. The Yo-he-ho theory

The Yo-he-ho Theory is one of the theories of language origin that explains how speech started from rhythmic groans, grunts, and snorts induced by physical labor when people worked together. The chanting to stimulate collective efforts inspired songs like the "Seven Dwarfs” working songs, Volga boatmen and military men. Plato believed that practical necessity pushed humans to develop languages. As science explains, the left hemisphere of the brain controls both the right-hand coordination and speech. Showing evidence that physical coordination and the need to communicate developed at the same time.

Limitation of the theory

This theory does not explain where words come from, but only accounts for the rhythmic features of the language itself found in inspired songs.

6. The Ta-Ta theory

The theory was inspired by the findings (evolution of early man) of Dr Charles Darwin. The ta-ta theory states that language was developed from the body movements and hand gestures of early human beings. The involuntary body movement and hand gesture stimulated the development of speech patterns to explain what the movements meant.

Limitation of the theory

The use of gestures and body movement vary in different parts of the world. For example, the use of hand gesture, waving; one culture will depict it as saying goodbye and another culture explain it to means "no.”

Final Thought

Scientists are now trying to provide evidence to the different theories of language origin by using paleontology with the combination of cognitive, physical and social factors. Hopefully, the evidence provided will help people get close to the truth. However, we should appreciate the efforts given by the theories to explain the origin language.