How I Changed My Mind about Language
At the beginning of my first semester in college, upon knowing very little about Language, I had many assumptions about what language really was. I primarily believed that language was ‘just’ how we speak, read and write. I did not know how it was produced, structured, functions and even how it works with our brains. My main assumption of language was that it never originated from any source, I had always believed that the language we speak, read and write was something we as humans grow into. At some extent my assumption was true, but I was unaware of ‘The origins of language’. In this essay I will use the text, “The Study of Language” edited by George Yule that identifies an important aspect of the origin of language and how I understand it differently today. Another source of information I will use is a video I looked at in class called; “The birth of a word”, which is a homemade video made by a MIT researcher Deb Roy in which he experimented to understand how a child/infant learns and understands language. And finally, after researching about the general meaning of language and what it is, I will identify to my knowledge what changes I now have compared to the similar assumptions I previously had.
There are many sources that identify the origins of Language. Prior to the start of the semester I always had the assumption that language is just something we gather through time, the society we are born into and what was taught to us from birth. Although my assumptions to some extent are true, the origins of language have many technical sources that identifies where language first came from. In the text, “The Study of Language” it introduces us to many of these sources. One of the most interesting sources of language introduced to us in the text is the “The natural sound source”, Yule says, “A quite different view of the beginnings of language is based on the concept of natural sounds” (Yule 2). According to Yule’s philosophy of where the beginnings of language originated, one major source he identifies is that the primitive words used today could have been imitations of natural sounds early men and women heard. Some English words that originated from the concept of the natural sound source are; splash, bang, boom, rattle, buzz, hiss, screech, Yule identifies that this view has been called the “bow-wow theory” of language origin. Words that sound similar to the noises they make are examples of onomatopoeia. It is also said that in many words in different languages are onomatopoeic. It still fascinates me to fully believe that natural sounds actually have an impact on the words they are known as today. I’ve always thought that many of these onomatopoeic words may have been words that are had been made up by pass generations. Now that I know that there are many words that are actually formed by the natural sound they make, I today sometimes listen to the sounds in everyday life that words may have been generated from. So far I haven’t gotten any words, but I am hoping to discover a few in the near future.
Another assumption I’ve always had was my understanding of how children and infants in particular acquire language. I’ve also assumed that all the words infants know at an early age was something taught to them. I didn’t know that the surroundings and things they frequently heard affect the birth of a word in their small vocabulary. After watching MIT researcher Deb Roy homemade video, in which he experimented using video cameras and microphones with his infant son, I then understood how the birth of words are slowly added to a child’s vocabulary. In the video Roy identifies his son referred to the word ‘water’, as “gaga” when he was a few months old. Roy for many weeks and months slowly saw the process of his child’s pronunciation and understanding of the word water got clearer. Roy discovered six months after his son was identifying the word water as gaga, he slowly adopted the adult form of pronunciation, water.
I have researched the definition of Language and found many definitions that also changed my assumptions I previously had. I had always look at language as the instrument all humans are born with, not knowing there was a scientific study to the production, structure and functions for the languages all humans speak. Prior to my first semester in college, being in a Language class, “Introduction to Language”, I frequently heard the word ‘linguistic’, yet I never understood the general meaning of it. I did further research on Language and it states that the word linguistic is the scientific study of language (Wikipedia). After getting the general definition of linguistic, it slowly occurred to me that linguistics being the scientific study of language is the reason behind all the work that I did in class. The scientific study of language refers to the production, structure, and functions of language.
Finally, I can conclude by saying, I understand that language is something more than just my incorrect assumptions I previously had. There are many aspects and elements that make language what it is. I understand it is ‘not’ just something we are born into, but it involves many technical terms and aspects that make it a special human characteristic. I am fortunate to say, I am lucky to be able to read, write and speak English fluently that enables me a good and clear understanding of the world around me.
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