1.

INTRODUCTION

Developments in the environment and life style of the primitive people

reinforced their communication with each other, but their interaction advanced in
a different way with comparison to animal communication. The reason is the
humankind’s capability of thinking. On the earth, every animal can establish
communication including insects, fish, animals, etc. However, only humans have
advanced in this communication by setting up a language with specific rules and
orders. The main argument about these very first languages is their origins. The
exact origin is not known yet, and it is still blurred. This point gives rise to many
arguments; some of the linguists claim that there is just one language as origin
which is called as proto-language, the others do not agree with them, because they
think that every culture improved their own special communication systems at the
same time. About the exact origin Darwin says:

In Charles Darwin’s vision of the origins of language,

early humans had already developed musical ability prior
to language and were using it “to charm each other.” This
may not match the typical image that most of us have of
our early ancestors as rather rough characters wearing
animal skins and not very charming, but it is an interesting
speculation about how language may have originated. It
remains however a speculation. (1) Yule, G. 2006. The
Study of Language (1). Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press.

About unclearness of the real origin of the language, Doğan Aksan

declares that the main reason for the unclearness of the origin is not the absence of
hard evidences; it is the unsuitable time between evidences and their reflecting
times. He says that:

It should be noted that the reality which make the research

difficult, and sometimes make it impossible is that the
writings which are believed as evidences belong to a
 newly era, and they can brighten a closer era. For
example, Sumerian written examples believed as the
oldest forms go back to 5500 years ago; the oldest Turkish
written forms go back to 7. and 8. era B.C. however, latest
researches show that humans lived 1 million years ago.(2)
Aksan, D. 2000. Her Yönüyle Dil: Cilt 1 (94). Ankara:
Türk Dil Kurumu Yayınları.

Every linguists question 3 main arguments which must be depicted in this

study no matter what they think about the exact origin. One of the arguments is
the precise era of human’s speaking ability. The answer for this discussion is
crucial because it can shed light on the history of the human language. The other
question is the forms of first communication systems and how they are produced.
This is the main theme of this research. The last discussion which is wondered by
every linguist is whether they are emerged from only one source.

Because no one can agree on a specific origin, there are 3 distinctive topics
about the form of very first language. Some of linguists think that the very first
language was in the written form. They present hieroglyphs, signs in the caves, etc
for their researches as evidence. Some other linguists support the idea that first
language originates as spoken form. Their mainstay is the humankind’s ability of
producing sounds. The last thought is the original form of the first language is
gestural. The supporters of this belief say that humankind learned to use their
hands for everything just before establishing the spoken and written language.

WRITING

Writing is the symbolic representation of a language by graphic signs or

symbols. It consists of pictures, drawings, primitive drawings on the walls of
caves, symbols, hieroglyphs, etc. It is believed that every culture has developed
their own writing system; thus, they show differences in forms of writing if we
make a comparison between each culture. Firstly, we should know that there is
not a certainty about how writing is originated. Some researchers examine the
history of the writing as prewriting and pictogram. It is stated that:
 Figures and scenes depicted on cave walls and rock faces
in the Americas, Africa, and Europe as much as fifteen
thousand years ago may have been forerunners of writing.
Some of these Petroglyphs (scenes painted on stones) may
represent a type of preliterate stage that did not evolve into
a full-fledged writing system .(3) Dobrovolsky, M. and
O’Grady, W. 2010. Writing and language. In W.
O’Grady et al. (Eds.) Contemporary Linguistics: An
Introduction (545-553). New York: Bedford/St.
Martin’s.

As it is seen that time of the prewriting is before a regular rule-based

writing system, but it does not mean that prewriting is different from written form
language. It consists of signs and pictures instead of alphabet. Linguists propose
that these prewritings can have different meanings in their target. They can be
made for aesthetic visualization, just for communication, or religion. This is the
period before an ordered and rule-based written language. The other evidence
under this topic is the pictograms. Pictogram is the pictorial representation; in
other words, it is picture writing. In the book Writing and Language, the inner
definition of the pictograms is given as:

Each pictogram was an image of the object or concept that

it represented and, as far as we know, offered no clues to
pronunciation. Pictorial representations of this sort have
been found among people throughout the ancient and the
modern world. Dobrovolsky, M. and O’Grady, W. 2010.
Writing and language. In W. O’Grady et al. (Eds.)
Contemporary Linguistics: An Introduction (545-553).
New York: Bedford/St. Martin’s.

First sentence gives clue to supporters of written-originated language.

Language has been established since it was a necessity. Therefore, its forms are
also requisite. There is not a need to produce sounds while using pictograms.
Then, supporters accept this thought as an indication to form of the origin of
language.

Writing has developed not wholly in an instant but step by step. Linguists
examine these steps under 4 titles which are ordered as basic to complex. The
very first step is the “rebuses.” There is a relationship between the phonological
structure and the symbol; in other words, it is not arbitrary. O’Grady states that:

Phonographic writing made its appearance at the end of

the fourth millennium with the use of Sumerian symbols
to represent sound just rather the meaning. The major
development in the history of writing was made possible
by the use of rebus principle, which allows a sign to be
used for any word that is pronounced like the word whose
meaning it originally represented. Dobrovolsky, M. and
O’Grady, W. 2010. Writing and language. In W.
O’Grady et al. (Eds.) Contemporary Linguistics: An
Introduction (545-553). New York: Bedford/St.
Martin’s.

In the development stage of writing, there is a tendency to pass syllabic

forms after the rebuses. It means that rules begin to take place in writing in a basic
way. So, it can be said that writing has taken its shape form its syllables firstly.
For this stage, in the book Writing and Language, it is written that:

As Sumerian writing developed, signs that clearly

represented not just homophonous words but parts of
words – specifically, syllables- became well established.
For example, the word kir was represented by the syllabic
signs ki and ir written in sequence. Dobrovolsky, M. and
O’Grady, W. 2010. Writing and language. In W.
O’Grady et al. (Eds.) Contemporary Linguistics: An
Introduction (545-553). New York: Bedford/St.
Martin’s.
 The other development in the form of writing is called as “cuneiform”. It is
a modification stage related with pictograms. As it is stated before, pictograms
show resemblance to their signs. But, cuneiforms show less tendency to represent
its origin. Initially, pictograms are pictured directly according to its origin’s
vision. Then, these pictograms are changed in their shape; hence, they are no
longer parallel with each other.

Linguists state that every culture establishes their own language with
different techniques. For example, while Sumerian was using pictograms and
rebuses, hieroglyphs which are picture based style were used in writing system in
Egypt. For the definition of hieroglyphs, it is written that:

Although hieroglyphs were pictures, they could be used as

pictograms, phonograms, or as determinatives- signs that
indicated the meaning of a word and how the previous
signs were to be interpreted. Dobrovolsky, M. and
O’Grady, W. 2010. Writing and language. In W.
O’Grady et al. (Eds.) Contemporary Linguistics: An
Introduction (545-553). New York: Bedford/St.
Martin’s.

The last development is accepted as the emergence of alphabet. In time,

pictograms and symbols for objects changed in their forms. In the beginning, one
pictogram was symbolizing just one object. After the change, they turned into
phonemes of a word. This contribution gives rise to development of the alphabet.

In the finding evidences and examining evidences for the written

originated language, not every drawings or images are taken into account. Some
of them can have a linguistic value while some others can have just aesthetic
visualization. For example, rock carving or animal painting cannot bear any
linguistic meaning. Moreover, drawing geometrical shapes can be done for
making art instead of conveying meaning.
 SPOKEN

A quite different view about the form of the origin of language is based on
concepts and natural sounds. According to this view, imitations and natural
sounds can be the origin of the language. For example, when a dog barked, the
early human imitated it, and then they related that sound with the dog. They made
this relation between sounds and concepts for the other animals and natural
occurrences. In the view of these examples, we can see that words can sound
similar to their concept. These are the examples of onomatopoeia. But some
linguists oppose to the idea that imitations are the origin of the language. It is
suggested that:

For instance, talking birds are able to imitate human

speech with varying ability. However, this ability to mimic
human sounds is very different from the acquisition of
syntax. Likewise, the production of speech sounds is not
necessary for language use, as evidenced by modern sign
languages, which use manual symbols and facial grammar
as a basis for language rather than speech.
http://www.ask.com/wiki/Origin_of_language

Moreover, some linguists proposes that natural sounds which are related
with emotions of cries anger, pain, etc, also, cannot be the origin of language.
They say that spoken language can be done with an exhaled breath. It is explained
as:

Ouch! and other interjections such as Ah!, Oh!, Wow!, or

Yuck!, are usually produced with sudden intakes of breath,
which is the opposite of ordinary talk. We normally
produce spoken language on exhaled breath. Basically, the
expressive noises people make in emotional reactions
contain sounds that are not otherwise used in speech
production and consequently would seem to be rather
 unlikely candidates as a source sounds for language. Yule,
G. 2000. The Study of Language (2). Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press

There is a difference between animal communication and our speech in a

physical way, so it is not correct to compare them. Our speech depends on cortical
speech centre which is working without instincts. This centre is responsible for
organizing sound in a rational basis. This property makes human brain unique.
Also, linguists of spoken-originated language show this uniqueness as evidence to
their theories.

GESTURES

There is one another approach to form of the origin of the language, and
this approach takes the gestures as the base of the first languages. Linguists of this
idea support their idea with a simple example which is about people who do not
have a common language among them. When these people without a common
language try to communicate, they use their mimics, hands, and arms instead of
sounds. This example leads us to the idea that primitive people without any
spoken and written language used their gestures for communication. So, first
language can be gestural. Linguists supporting this gestural-originated language
idea propose two evidences for their theory. These evidences are:

1. Gestural language and vocal language depend on

similar neural systems. The regions on the cortex that
are responsible for mouth and hand movements border
each other.

2. Nonhuman primates can use gestures or symbols for at

least primitive communication, and some of their gestures
resemble those of humans, such as the "begging posture",
with the hands stretched out, which humans share with
chimpanzees.
http://www.ask.com/wiki/Origin_of_language
 First evidence is the key point for gesture’s being a way of communication.
Because they show similarity with speech production, so human without speech
can use gestures as language.

After a while, the primitive people using gestures for communication had
difficulty in the advance of this form. So, their communication form changed into
spoken form. One of the reasons for the change is their loosing capability of using
hands, for all the tools they had were used by hands. Thus, their capacity in using
gestures turned into capability in using tools. The other reason is necessity of the
gestural communication. Gestural communication must be between the sharers,
and they need to see each other. But when they faced with an alarming situation
lonely, these primitive people needed to communicate without close contact.

In this theory, some supporters propose the sign language as evidence to

primitive gestures. They say that people who cannot speak need to use gestures in
their primitive era as same as our era, and they establish their theory within this
belief. But it is known that sign language has one difference if we compare it with
spoken language. Researchers suggest that:

Humans still use hand and facial gestures when they

speak, especially when people meet who have no language
in common. There are also, of course, a great number of
sign languages still in existence, commonly associated
with Deaf communities, but it is important to note that
these signed languages are as equally complex as any
spoken language - the cognitive functions are similar and
the parts of the brain used are similar - the main difference
is that the "phonemes" are produced on the outside of the
body, articulated with hands, body, and facial expression,
rather than inside the body articulated with tongue, teeth,
lips, and breathing. To compare sign language to primitive
gestures is a mistake.
http://www.ask.com/wiki/Origin_of_language

CONCLUSION
 As a whole, in this study three theories about the origin of the language are
explained with their supporters and opposers. However, it is still not clear how
language is emerged. Some linguists make relations about the origin with sounds;
some of them points out hieroglyphs and pictograms, and the others believe that
its origin is related with gestures among people sharing the same environment. In
this study, all these approaches with different evidences are stated; furthermore,
ideas opposing to these theories are given. However, in the end, there is not a
mutual belief about its origin yet, in view of the fact that there are not enough
quality sources about the origins. Hence, this unclearness gives rise to abundance
in debates. It is tried in this paper to present researches about these 3 different
forms in an objective way.