Introduction
It must be stated that research has been carried out into the links between language and thought, a relationship so complex in nature that conclusions and ideas about this pair are difficult to form. This relationship is being explored but the quest into finding definite or fixed answers that go beyond the reach of science continues today. It must be recognised that philosophical and anthropological reasoning are necessary tools when considering this relationship and that science in this case cannot act as a sole means of approaching this question.
Science provides humans with the answers to many of today’s greatest questions. However when there is a lack of evidence, hypotheses are often formulated, some being impossible to ever disprove hence remain accepted. Creativity, thought and a feeling of curiosity come into play when any hypothesis is created. Language therefore can be left to the imagination when considering its origins as no physical evidence exists that can take us back to its beginning. I may be presenting an opinion which seems to disregard the role of science but I am simply stating science can generalise many situations but in this context, it is an individualised phenomenon in which it is up to the individual to present their thoughts based on external factors that science cannot simply explain or condense. When language is considered, one needs to consider the individual, society and context in which the language has integrated itself.
All views in this work have been supported by linguists, neurologists, psychologists but rarely have these separate fields of study been drawn together and hence it is here I decide to link several possible variables and unknowns to uncover more about not only the origins and influences of language on an individual, but to predict the future behaviour and activities of mankind.
Basic Principles of Language
Throughout history the definition of language has changed greatly. Very much like evolution, language has adapted in order to become accustomed to the changing world to facilitate communication and human expression. From hieroglyphics to modern day text, it must be observed that use of language can be incorporated into both written and oral forms. Hence, a definition that I believe to account for this particularity states;
Language is “a system of conventional spoken, manual or written symbols by which human beings, as members of a social group and participants in its culture express themselves.”
This states language is a system. One can compare it to a system in our body which links organs and tissues together to perform not only one function, but several. Language links words, sentences together to describe and cope with social situations, cultures and individuals. Stating that language facilitates communication is not just a given, it is a necessity. Expression of an identity at a personal level or at a national level relies partially on language. It is important to note that language cannot be considered in isolation, otherwise its necessity and meanings cannot be stressed. A link between a language and its country, society and individual must be considered at all times.
Language is a rather rare phenomenon that is found in the kingdom Animalia. It is known that mammals such as dolphins have the ability to communicate using a variety of clicks, whistle-like sounds and other vocalisations. However, the variety of sounds, structure of the language which includes grammar, is ‘species-specific’ to humans. Language is virtually the only aspect of our being that distinguishes ourselves from mammals, including primates in particular. So if we ask ourselves, ‘What makes us human?’ We can say language and our ability to use speech and writing as universal materials of communication and expression.
Origins of Language
A question that has played on great minds for centuries but the answer still remains rather deliberated begins with:
‘How do new languages arise?’
And then this question may sometimes be followed up with:
- ‘What was the first language?’
- And then if you’re really interested you may wonder:
- ‘How many languages can there possibly be?’
These three questions may never have definite answers and this is possibly the reason why very few individuals regard them as a priority to research. When tackling these questions, logical reasoning, anthropological links must be used as we think about the likely situations that were present at that time which caused new languages to arise in this instance. Due to the way languages change gradually, it is usually impossible to pinpoint when a given language began to be presented in oral and/or written forms. In many cases, some form of the language had already been spoken (and even written) considerably earlier than 11th century AD.
Formed itself due to the humans evolving with human brains becoming more and more complex, language facilitated day-to-day tasks with the language itself possibly being written to accommodate more complex thought-processes. In this case one can consider the Egyptian language as one of the oldest recorded languages known considering its earliest known complete written sentence has been dated to about 2690 BC.
One can compare one of the first languages to a now-extinct species that lived several millions of years ago.
Around 45 to 55 million years ago there lived an ancestor of one of today’s common species, the horse (Equus ferus callabus). This individual was a Hyracotherium which inhabited the Earth during the Eocene period. This species remained on the planet for a relatively long time seeing that there were limited ‘selection pressures’ present. Evolutionists are not entirely certain what drove the evolution of this species but many believe that a changing environment due to climate change is rather likely. This Hyracotherium was rather small and had toes on each foot. However now with the changing environment, the anatomy of this species was no longer beneficial to it’s survival. In a population, no two individuals are the same. This is due to variation caused by genetic mutation. There will be individuals in this population who will be able to accommodate this change in the environment better than others, and hence are more likely to survive. These individuals will therefore be allowed to reproduce, passing their advantageous alleles onto their offspring. This is known as Natural Selection, a mechanism proposed by Charles Darwin which can explain the process of evolution. Over time, the population will now have a larger proportion of these advantages alleles which facilitates the survival of these individuals. If the new population has changed to a relatively large extent and an individual from the original population cannot reproduce with a new member of a population to produce fertile offspring, then a process known as speciation has occured. This is the process of a new species arising from an older, now probably extinct species.
Around 2690 BC the Egyptian language was present. This makes it one of the world’s oldest languages. It is well-known that the Egyptians were an intelligent race when it came to many fields of study so it is hardly surprising that they devised their own language which was written in the form of hieroglyphics and was also thought to have been spoken. The language remained in Egypt for around 3000 years due the land’s resistance to major external influences or for comparative purposes, so-called ‘selection pressures’. Egyptologists are not entirely certain what drove this Egyptian language to become extinct but it is thought that Christianisation influenced the rapid process of the death of the Egyptian language. This language was used from day-to-day communication to the writing-up of the treatments of several conditions such as asthma. There is always variation in a population and no individuals speak the same way. Individuals have their own idiolect. There will be a certain way of speaking and hence thinking that may be able to survive this change in environment not only due to the individual’s willingness to adapt, but also the desire to be integrated into a changing society. With these selected individuals, their way of speaking and thought may become the desired form of language, hence others will eventually adopt the same variation of this language. Over time, due to pressures put on this language, it began to gradually change significantly in order to accommodate new modes of thought, political and religious change. If the language does not alter in such a way that it can continue to be spoken or used, the language will quickly become extinct. Hence, Ancient Egyptian became extinct and the Coptic and Demotic languages arose from this.
We can see from the two paragraphs above that the extinction of a language and the extinction of a species are rather similar. However, I don’t believe a language is can ever be truly extinct. Much like evolution, a species that evolved from the one before it always has several features in common with one another. Hence, the same principle can be applied to language and how hieroglyphics evolved into modern-historic writing systems such as Coptic.
Using Ancient Egyptian as a comparison is beneficial considering it could’ve been one of the first languages on the planet and hence could be described as the root of all languages. It was the catalyst which participated in the evolution of more complex thought and ideas.
On the contrary, perhaps there was more than ‘one first language’. A hypothesis exists whereby one states that the ancestors of all humans alive today originated from Africa. This is the ‘Out of Africa (OOA)’ theory. With several ‘waves’ of movements happening between 270,000 and 80,000 years ago to all four corners of the world, we can say with confidence that this is long before any official languages complete with grammatical aspects and an extensive vocabulary which could be applied to new situations which required some spontaneity, could have been formed. Henceforth, with many small populations now over the planet, different geographical locations and different social situations, a language’s coming about, dependent on a thought-process, will be slightly different from place to place. Despite there being little evidence to back this theory, it seems highly illogical to believe that the same thoughts applied to situations were consistent around the globe at this time, and would also be difficult to believe that the same sounds and even beginnings of words were exactly the same from population to population.
A language or a dialect?
We may hear several languages everyday. It is rather inevitable that you would find yourself in a location where only one language is spoken. As people who’s first language is English, we may easily be able to distinguish between French, Spanish and German. However, many have made the observation that there are many similarities between the Swedish, Danish and Norwegian languages seeing that they’re part of a ‘dialect continuum’. Some languages sound and look so similar due to sharing many features such as grammar, alphabet which in turn determines how the language is constructed.
If we talk to our friends, they may have a slightly different way of speaking than us. This is called their idiolect and can often reflect one’s social class, upbringing and mode of thought. We can then move up from this small scale and look at dialects. Mandarin and Cantonese are dialects of the Chinese language despite many believing that they are two separate, yet similar languages. Geographical location has mainly determined the formation of these two dialects with Mandarin being spoken mainly in China whereas Cantonese is spoken mainly in Hong Kong. The next rung in this ladder is then the language itself. It is undeniably difficult to distinguish between a widely spoken dialect and the language it’s derived from. We can ask ourselves, ‘How do we distinguish between languages and their dialects, and therefore how many languages exist without including dialects?
We can think of a language as a sweet shop that sells very many different types of sweets. This shop is called, ‘The English Language Sweet Shop’. On walking in, you see jars of sweets lining the shelves, all filled with different varieties of sweets. You take a closer look at one jar that has a label that reads, ‘British English’. This is the type you usually go for, the one you find easiest to choose because this is virtually the only sweet you’ve had since you were very young. However as you’re walking over to pay, you see a relatively new sweet called ‘American English’. Now, you know several people who like this variety of sweet including several of your favourite actors, however as you’ve had your usual for so long and most of your family and friends buy this sweet, you’ve never really been bothered to try another sort. It looks rather similar to the sweet you have in your hand. You’re so intrigued to give it a go that you ask the shop assistant if you could have just one to try. Surprisingly, it tastes rather similar however there are some additional notes of something that you’re not quite used to and you can’t seem to work out. Despite some slight confusion of taste, you decide to buy this variety as well as your usual. Several months later, you now buy ‘American English’ sweets and you start to talk to people who also regularly buy it and so become rather accustomed to it over time. It is necessary to keep in mind at times that your family and close friends do not usually buy this sweet, hence you have your usual at home.
In this sweet shop, there are many, many jars. ‘Yorkshire English’, ‘Trinidadian English’ and ‘Nigerian English’ to name but a few. You may try these varieties but in the end, it is ‘British English’ that you have grown up with that is likely to be your first choice.
This extended analogy is trying to show several distinguishing features between languages and their associated dialects. The sweet shop represents the English language as a whole and then the jars of sweets represent the variations of this language, also known as dialects. The customer will usually purchase one type of sweet, in other words, they will usually use one form of a dialect. However, if a situation changes and a change in geographical location is a consequence, one may want to adopt the speech patterns of a new neighbourhood in order to ‘fit-in’ whether this be in another country (In this example American English) or a different region within the same country (Yorkshire English). Even if you begin to adopt several features of a newly-introduced dialect, your family members may prefer one over the other and hence may prefer you to adhere to one. Use of different dialects also brings in the question of identity. A dialect with its quirks may have partially shaped you as an individual and hence there is always likely to be a personal preferential dialect.
Taking the above example into consideration, there are many dialects within a language and each person who speaks a form of the language due to a combination of reasons may be able to understand someone who speaks a different form of the same language. This is known as mutual intelligibility.
According to the criteria of mutual intelligibility, a linguistic phenomenon that I will later explain in more detail, there exists over 7000 languages on this planet today. However, this cannot be considered simply as the answer to the third question. There may be over 7000 known languages today however this excludes extinct languages. Several decades ago, there may have been many more languages present, taking the number up to nearer 8000. Due to globalisation which is threatening many villages found in certain areas such as the Amazon rainforest and rural parts of Africa, language death is becoming an increasingly more common event. I will later explore the causes of this and will launch into a debate whether this can be a positive or indeed a negative occurrence.
Are Languages in Decline?
The UK can be viewed as a country which seems very resistant to be influenced by external cultures and henceforth is reluctant to adopt languages other than English. The same can also be said of the United States of America. Despite these two nations who seem to regard language learning of little importance, many countries around the world have more than one official language and so inevitably their citizens may speak more than one language. Perhaps we should therefore implement initiatives in schools and in the workplace to increase those who speak more than one language? If only it were that simple. How can one be eager to learn a language and then use it usefully and for a considerable time afterwards if there are no advantages of language learning being presented?
Reluctancy and Mindsets
A question that must be asked is, ‘Why are people so reluctant to learn another language?’ It is a fact that most pupils at GCSE level take only one language and then less than a half pursue a language at A-level or equivalent standard. We as a nation seem to be becoming incredibly isolated in such a way that if any change in the way we communicate with other countries occurs, there would be such a high demand for linguists and yet the places would not be filled. It is the mindset of the British (this is without a doubt a generalisation however is statistically correct) that countries regard us as an important nation, hence English must be taught to every child in Europe and then used even in the country of residence in some cases. We have adopted the wrong mindset when we approach languages. The British culture is of course regarded as very important and many people are immensely proud of what they have contributed to over time. Therefore, why would we want to incorporate other languages which puts the British culture at risk? The basis of this dilemma can be further expressed with yet another extended analogy.
At school, it is required that you speak language 1. At any level of education all you need is language 1. The songs you listen to, the books you read are in language 1. Your friends, family, actors on the television all speak language 1. It seems that this language is all you need to get a job and therefore have a stable income in which you can use to support yourself and house your future family.
However, there exists a language 2 whose home is not usually here. This language can be adopted by an individual by own personal choice. You know of a family, family A, who live down your street who are able to speak both language 1 and 2. You think to yourself, ‘Why? If everyone I know speaks language 1, and I don’t need language 2, why should I bother to learn it?’
One day, you’re walking back from the local supermarket and you hear this family in their front garden. You may hear this family however you do not listen because you simply do not understand language 2. As you reach home, you wonder why this family seems to put language 2 into practise when their neighbourhood are language 1 speakers.
Several weeks later, you receive an invitation to Family A’s housewarming party. You decide to go along, why not if there’s free booze? On arriving, many people have flocked into this house and are having a great time. The only thing that seemed out of place was yourself. The music was in language 2, most of the people there spoke language 2 and you could’ve sworn that language 3 also was present. Different ways of dining, socialising, dancing and simply being in this new culture hit you suddenly. You leave rather suddenly seeing that you have been introduced to many new aspects of language 2, not just its words, and you aren’t entirely sure whether you should embrace it or protect your own way of living.
This presents clearly several problems associated with language learning today in the UK. If we see no valid reason to learn another language, then it is difficult to dedicate time and effort to an additional language. Us as humans usually have motives that we use to drive and motivate us to study a certain area and if there is no motive or very little reason to why languages should be studied, then it is unlikely than an individual will learn a second or even a third language.
Misinterpretation of the Definition of Language
Another major problem is that languages are viewed by many as just comprising of their words, grammar and stylistic features. However, it must be recognised that this opinion, if held by someone, presents them as someone who has a lack of understanding of other nations and their associated cultures. It is therefore necessary to make people aware that language isn’t a subject, it is gives an individual another nuance to their life and a skill.
I believe that learning another language is like taking the long way home from school:
No one particularly wants to do that and why should they? If you can get home early, manage to do all your homework before dinner, then the rest of the evening can be well spent. Your mum asks you to stop by the little shop on the corner which you have never been to because you can only get there by taking the long route. However, you can’t let your mum down and so you agree. You’re incredibly unfamiliar with the environment around you and you notice many new faces. Once you’ve picked up the bread and the milk, you then begin to cycle home and then find yourself becoming lost. You attempt to use logic and reasoning and after a while, you do find yourself on the right track. You think to yourself that I have never been challenged like that before, I have never had to approach a situation slightly differently. And you don’t mind it. When you return home, not only were your eyes opened to new people, buildings and environments, you now feel as if this experience will certainly benefit you because new ways of thinking were required and you feel also you have a better understanding of your town.
This short story presents several advantages that come with learning an additional language or two. The long route represents the journey of learning a new language which can seem daunting at times but also necessary. This character at first didn’t see the importance of this language and became easily lost early on due to this lack of comprehension. However, by taking this route they were also forced to adopt a new way of thinking, a way that corresponds to the language at hand. At the end of the journey, they realise that they enjoyed the challenge and the introduction to a slightly different environment and that thinking like this could be applied to many unknown or unforeseen situations and so could help to approach them slightly differently.
Languages for me influences how one thinks. When speaking French I feel like a different person, one who embraces another culture other than my own, a culture whose people have different ways of thinking due to vocabulary and upbringing (Linguistic Relativity). Not only are languages a skill but they do also increase employability. As stated before, Brexit has negative consequences on the diversity of languages in the UK and hence it is vital that more students take up languages at higher education levels.
So, are languages in decline? The answer is yes. But it doesn’t mean that they will continue to decline if appropriate government initiatives are put in place in order to encourage the uptake of language learning at home, at school and in the workplace. If we see the easy route, we will take it. If we see a more challenging route, we are likely to avoid it. However, if we never take it, how will we know that there isn’t something greater at the end, and how do we know there isn’t going to be invaluable experience placed along this path?
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