The Emergence Of Spoken Language - 2220 Words

The emergence of Spoken Language â€Å"Language shapes the way we think, and determines what we can think about,† says Benjamin Lee Whorf. Indeed, the significance of language in most societies regardless of the language. Communication has become an essential part of people’s daily lives. However, have you ever asked yourself how the early hominids or our early ancestors were communicating? Did they even have a language? Scholars have tried to come up with different theories about how the first spoken language emerged. It is impossible to imagine a cultural occurrence that is more significant than the emergence of language. It is like ignoring the Age of Enlightenment, which is the period when cultural and social changes occurred emphasizing†¦show more content†¦The evidence conclusively implies that humans were created with the unique ability to employ speech for communication. An article written by Lemonick (1994:80-87) in Time magazine titled How man began states, â€Å"No single, essential difference separates human beings from other animals.† Most scientific scholars acknowledge that communication by speech is exclusively a human ability. Therefore, it is one of the ability that is often used as the unique, and most important, dividing line between humans and animals. In his book, Eve Spoke, Philip Lieberman (1998:5) claims, † Speech is so essential to our concept of intelligence that its possession is virtually equated with being human. Animals who talk are human, because what sets us apart from other animals is the gift of speech.† In The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Human Evolution, three editors Jones, Martin, and Pilbeam (1999:128) agree, â€Å"There are no non-human languages† and observed, â€Å"language is an adaptation unique to humans, and yet the nature of its uniqueness and its biological basis are notoriously difficult to define.† In his book, The Symbolic Species: The Co-Evolution of Language and the Brain, Terrance Deacon (1997:25) could not agree when he writes, â€Å"In this context, then, consider the case of human language. It is one of the most distinctive behavioral adaptations on the planet. Languages evolved in only one species, in only one way, without precedent, except in the most general