The First Words... The Origin of Language

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MarkAman
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The First Words... The Origin of Language

Post by MarkAman »

What is present can be referred to by the simple act of pointing. Earliest man used this means first and exclusively to refer to what was present, since, like any animal, he was not yet aware of the possibility and power of absence. And of course we still use this means of referring to present things as when I 'point out' which building on this street is the library. However, ONLY when an object is ABSENT, is there a need to 'call' it back into presence. Pointing to a present object with the index finger is the precursor to language. But language itself is born when the game, the berries, the food to be found in the bush, the life-sustaining water in the stream, for some reason, this year, does not appear as usual. It's the ABSENCE of the thing that requires a name for it and this naming is first a 'calling' of it back from its terrifying absence.

The first words were born in this state of longing, fairly desperate, for absent, 'missing' things. The first words were 'calls' to these things that were suddenly not there. The missing thing needs a name to call it by. The calling of a thing back from absence gave the impetus for replacing it with a word or an artistic representation, formed in mud or drawn on the wall of a dwelling. In the same way, the first naming of human beings was born of the need to call an absent dear-one back to the fold. As long as the circle is complete and all heads are counted, there is no need for names. Only when one is missing, must he or she be given a name and called, probably desperately, back from the danger and into the circle.

Slowly, over hundreds of thousands of years, words and ideas began to replace all kinds of things, whether they were present or not, so that they could be 'conceived' at will and man would no longer be at their mercy, subject to their loss. As the names of things proliferated, language was required to comprehend the nuances, actions and interactions of things as well as their relatively static, nominal state of being. Thus developed the need for verbs, adjectival and adverbial expressions and well as nominal ones. Over a vast period of time, more and more things with their events, patterns and structures - 'ideas', were 'held in mind' by man and so his brain naturally grew to outsize proportions. At the same time, the power of mute pointing receded and is present to us today as a mere vestige, useful in only the most trivial circumstances of signifying as in the case of my mutely pointing out the library on the street.

Thus, on loss, absence and a more or less desperate calling, is the modern world of human language strangely founded. And the calling and recalling of longed-for absent things (and others) is exactly what we do all day. 'Primitive' man would be no stranger to us.
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Burning ghost
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Re: The First Words... The Origin of Language

Post by Burning ghost »

I think this is certainly an aspect of language, but only an aspect. Good observation.

It doesn't really work though because the "word" has to be first presented in the present moment within a community before it is referred to. There is also the problem of defining precisely what language is and what you mean here. Simple alarm calls by various animals could also be called a precursor to our language. Many different animals often have different calls to recognize and refer to each other too.

I can see what you are thinking though and I like it. Gone down that road and still stumbling down it! :)
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MarkAman
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Re: The First Words... The Origin of Language

Post by MarkAman »

Thanks for reading the post and the comment. I agree that animal 'calls' and song should certainly be included among the precursors to our language. But human language is qualitatively different in that the vocal reference, the word, the name, refers to something not present. That is the leap to consciousness that animals never take. (They would 'say' we're crazy and maybe they're right.) Animal calls and song can only refer to what is present, be it an internal state of hunger, lust, affection or anger, or an external sense of danger and fear. What sets us apart, it seems to me, is that we used this same vocal capacity to refer to something that is not there... so that the vocalized Word became the THING ITSELF... so that when the berries or game reappeared and were once again present, they were then understood to be just examples, occasions of the REAL thing... which was the absent 'idea' that the word represents. Isn't that the world that we live in?... What present glass of water that slakes a certain thirst is understood to be 'Water'... the very thing itself? 'Water' is not present in any one place... It's absent and that is exactly what gives the Word it's power.
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Re: The First Words... The Origin of Language

Post by Burning ghost »

Some people think mostly in words, some people think mostly in images, and some think equally in both.
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