语言的起源.ppt

语言的起源
第一页，课件共12页
The Divine source
Adam’s naming
God created Adam and “out of the ground the Lord God for med every field, and every fowl of the air; and brought onto Adam to see what he would call them, and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof”(Genesis 2：19）
耶 和 华 神 用 土 所 造 成 的 野 地 各 样 走 兽 和 空 中 各 样 飞 鸟 都 带 到 亚当 面 前 ， 看 他 叫 什 么 。 亚当 怎 样 叫 各 样 的 活 物 ， 那 就 是 它 的 名 字 。
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第二页，课件共12页
The Divine source
Hindu
According to Hindu tradition, language came from the goddess Sarasvati, wife of Brahma, creator of the universe.
Babylonian – God Nabu
Egyptian – God Thoth
Plato’s view of the origin of language
In Cratylus(《克拉底鲁篇》）， Plato also considers that language is created by gods.
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第三页，课件共12页
The natural-sound source
Bow-wow theory
A quite different view of the beginnings of human speech is based on the concept of “natural sounds”.
cuckoo, splash, bang, boom, buzz
The pooh-pooh theory
      Language arose from instinctive emotional cries, expressive of pain or joy.
ouch, ah, hey, wow
The yo-he-ho theory
      Language arose from the sounds made by a group of people engaged in joint labour or effort – lifting a huge hunted game, moving a rock, etc.
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第四页，课件共12页
The natural-sound source
Ding-dong theory
Müller (in the 1800s) claimed a mystic harmony or correlation between sound and meaning. Just as in nature, every object, when struck by a solid body, gave off its own peculiar sound, so man's mind gave off a particular response to the various impact which the world made upon it.
Sing-song theoryOr music theory. Put forward by Otto Jesperson, a great Danish linguist, the theory held that primitive language consisted of very long words, using tone and pitch more than later languages, and a wider range of musical intervals; that it was more passionate and musical than later language.
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第五页，课件共12页
The oral-gesture source
There is little possibility of making