The First Language

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PeterH P
PeterH Nov 23, 2005 21:40:28
Replying to Littlestone

Fascinating stuff and I just hope that one day students of historic linguistics might sit around the same table as DNA scientists analysing the distribution of human genetics. Then we really might begin to understand our origins and how we colonised the world. Spencer Wells, author of "The Journey of Man" spends some time in the last chapter of that book telling how languages are vanishing at an alarming rate. I guess that by the 22nd century, everyone will speak the same version of Pidgin-Textese. r u ok gr8

From the First Language to the Last Language - everything moves in a great circle and the end is the beginning

S sam
sam Nov 23, 2005 21:55:44
Replying to PeterH

I was pootling about on the bbc website and came across this:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/european_languages/familytree.shtml

seems odd that all the european languages can be linked to others, apart from Basque. Guess we didn't like the Pyrenees.

sam

C CianMcLiam
CianMcLiam Nov 23, 2005 22:04:06
Replying to PeterH

Chomsky would say that all languages are superficial, part of the human genetic makeup is a verbal communication 'programme' that allows us to quickly learn natural language when we are very young whether we are in Brazil, Bermingham or Beijing. The differences are not very significant compared to the similarity of how they develop and are used easily to express thoughts and needs to others. I suppose that means comparing French and English would be like comparing a Fender guitar to a Gibson guitar, they are constructed differently giving a different sound but the principles are exactly the same.

I think its interesting that the extinction rate of languages is considered alarming, surely one common language that functions well and probably better than the ones that seperate us now is an ideal? I doubt very much a txt language is going to wipe out 'proper' language, and if it did it could only do that if it was able to communicate all the subtleties of historic languages. That would make old languages obsolete anyway.

L Littlestone
Littlestone Nov 23, 2005 22:35:56
Replying to PeterH

Indeed, it's when you have -

...two, three, seven, and ten in English, Latin, Greek and Sanskrit - ie

English
Latin
Greek
Sanskrit

as in -

two
duo
dúo
dva

three
tres
treîs
tráyas

seven
septem
heptá
saptá

ten
decem
déka
dasa

The threes are alike in all the languages ie -

English
Latin
Greek
Sanskrit

three
tres
treîs
tráyas


but linguists are interested in discovering regular patterns, not isolated resemblances. So here, "t" in English often appears as "d" in the other languages,

English
Latin
Greek
Sanskrit

two
duo
dúo
dva

ten
decem
déka
dasa


and "h" in Greek appears as "s" in English, Latin, and Sanskrit.

English
Latin
Greek
Sanskrit

seven
septem
heptá
saptá..."

Then you have the mother of all words - 'ma' perhaps from the suckling sound of babe at breast?