It is simply amazing what we can do with language — the intricacies we can communicate through spoken language, the poetry we’ve written and even the fact that we can’t always trust language: after all, people have the ability to lie. We humans are not alone in our ability to communicate. Other species are able to convey information to each other, such as bees dancing to indicate where food sources may be or plants sending chemical signals to warn each other of incoming danger.
We know spoken language came before written because evidence of the positioning of our larynx and other bones that aid in speaking predates evidence of our written records. Additionally, language is something we can learn without being formally taught it. Whereas with writing, we are taught how to hold our writing utensils and how to shape the different characters of the language we’re learning to write in.
It seems as though humans’ language is considered very complex, whilst communication occurring within nature doesn’t seem to be as complicated. This ties a bit back to the fact that not everything we say or write is completely true. For example, a cat’s purrs don’t entail any kind of deception — it’s just the sound cats elicit when they are content. It is trusted because sounds like these are quite difficult to fake. However, words are very easy to fake. And should the person using words end up lying, the listener can adapt and choose to only listen to cues that are hard to fake.
We do see lies in other species’ communications. There are some species that may sport bright colors to indicate they are poisonous even if they are not. Fiddler crabs also engage in dishonest signaling — when a crab loses its claw, the one that regrows is much larger, but weaker, than the old claw. But, by being bigger, it gives the indication that it is stronger even if it isn’t. In these cases, the proportion of dishonest signals is low, which means that testing the honesty is not worth the engagement (and thus doesn’t result in issues within the language being used).
The language humans have used can allow for subjects, verbs, objects, etc., and understanding past, present and future tense. However this is not universal: Chinese does not have different forms for different tenses; time is used in context to determine when the action happened. For example, one would say “Tomorrow we go shopping” or “Yesterday we go shopping.” There would be extra context added to understand the timing.
One theory behind the evolution of language is that language evolved as the structure of our brain evolved. This is related to the theory that the larger our brains, the greater our cognitive functions.
The issue with theorizing about language is that the definition of language is very hard to agree on. Would the communication between early humans be considered them having a “language”? After all, the language production area in our brains, known as Wernicke’s area, was present in early humans’ brains as well.
There are also examples of non-humans engaging in behaviors that are akin to what we call “language.” For example, parrots can mimic sounds, great apes can learn sign languages and dolphins use repetitive sounds that are related to hunting/social grouping. But one main thought is that language has been the process of Darwinian natural selection where the actual sounds and communications are precisely being refined.
The field of linguistics is vast and very interesting. It includes several branches such as language acquisition (how humans acquire the ability to comprehend language), phonetics (production and classification of speech sounds), phonology (patterns in sounds), semantics (the meaning of language) and syntax (how words are ordered).
Language is one of our biggest tools in understanding the world and communicating about it. Learning how to use this tool effectively can give us a deeper understanding of ourselves and others.
VAAGEESHA DAS is a second year college student and columnist for The Dominion Post. Information comes from: Bryant, C. W. (2023, Aug. 15). How did language evolve? HowStuffWorks Science. https://tinyurl.com/hsslangart; Pagel, M. (2017, July 24). Q&A: What is human language, when did it evolve and why should we care? – BMC biology. BioMed Central. https://tinyurl.com/humanlang; Wikimedia Foundation. (2024, May 13). Origin of language. Wikipedia. https://tinyurl.com/langorigwiki; Writing systems #5 – written vs. spoken. The University of Sheffield. (2022, April 7). https://tinyurl.com/writtenlang
