On the Origin and Development of Languages

It is often said that "necessity is the mother of all inventions". Then, the pertinent question remains “What necessitated the development of Language?” or the question that is even more baffling is “Why did only humans do so and not any other creature?”

In this regard, it must be mentioned that we, humans, do not have any typical so called ‘organs of speech’ (other than the Larynx), rather, we use organs of respiratory system and digestive system to articulate different sounds. So, it is not at all hard to imagine that when humans were in the early stages of their evolution they did not have any special organ for language. Thus, they were very much like the other animals around. Then, what on earth propelled the development of an oral communication system which is now called a LANGUAGE?

These questions had been baffling me for years until I got acquainted with Anthropology. It was now that I could relate the evolution of Language as a part of Hominid evolution. The social and geological factors that played their part in the later part of the evolution of the homosapien sapiens , must have had some impact on the evolution of Language as well.

For example, I can now try to answer one of my questions, “Why did we develop so many different languages rather than one universal language?” The answer may be that there was a stage in the evolution of human society and civilization when the humans began settling down. This act obviously meant rivalry and clashes between different clans or groups for the prime land. It was this competition that necessitated the development of different codes of communication. This indigenous code would have been their mark of identity that could not be faked by the outsiders; this practice might have given birth to names. I think, going by this hypothesis, we can now justify the existence of so many different languages rather than one universal language.
Similarly, the geographical factors also played their part. While some linguistic groups constantly fought and mingled, some remained isolated even till modern ages untill the development of modern means of communication.

In addition, I believe that the Darwin’s concept of “Survival of the fittest” is applicable in case of Languages too. Just as the weak genes perished so did the weak languages- the languages that did not have powerful speech community behind them. Here we can raise the question "Why did Sanskrit - the language of the elites and the kings- perish?" The answer may be that this marvellous language, unfortunately, remained restricted to the elites and royals only. Consequently, it lacked the mass behind it to stand the test of time.

In short, all I want to say is that we must start exploring the origin, evolution and development of Language parallel to the evolution of the humans and their society. The story of Language must be as complex and interesting as the History of humans themselves. Let us explore it.
Please enlighten me on this subject if anyone knows anything more.


Thanks

Words

Ever since I found interest in History, I had been overwhelmingly baffled by the notion of a bright student leaving his career love and family for the welfare of the country and society. YES, this is true of Swami Vivekanda, Gandhi, Netaji Subhash Bose, Bhagat Singh and several others. This confusion drove me into reading History even more and I went a few centuries back in time and found two of India's most profound philosophers - Buddha and Mahavira. Their life and achievements further aggravated my confusion then I went outside the frontiers of my nation and came across men like Bismarck, Metternich, Cavour, Martin Luther, Lenin, Che Guevara and several others.

Then I came to a strange conclusion that there was something common among all these GREAT men. All of them had a firm faith in the intellect of a common man. Each of them set out of the 'comfort of well-being' into the future with no surety of success whatsoever. All they had with them was a thought and belief in themselves. Mind it, this is true of even JESUS ! Many had set foot on these sandy beaches of Social/ Political reforms, only a few succeeded, rest were either obliterated or thrown into obscurity. Then what is it that made them successful? After pondering a lot, I found that their greatest strength was their ability to use the right words and pick the right moment. The power of this ability is best illustrated in the life and achievements of Adolf Hitler - who motivated not just illiterate people but even the educated Germans.

What I intend to convey through this post is a lot simpler than what these men did. I just want to put forth that we should recognize the power of our 'words'. They are our 'messengers' and they must be 'handled with care'

Student Indifference

Hi friends!

This is my first ever blog. So overlook my mistakes and try and get the central idea.

Well as we know students are the future of a country. In our country , I feel, there is a terrible lack of social awareness among the students. The best of young brains are absorbed by A-1 Engineering and Medical colleges and more so by the Management Training Institutions. There is nothing wrong in having the education of one's choice but in doing so we somehow tend to forget that there is a society and country out there that needs our attention. As an adult we begin to criticize the Political system, Educational system and even our Country- "इस देश का कुछ नहीं हो सकता।".

But have we ever thought what contribution we have made for the betterment of this very society that we are criticizing today?
Let us spend some time to think who or what has made this difference in the attitude of Indian youth? What is the reason behind such disillusionment ? The factors are many - from the ever biased Media to the selfishness of our parents. YES our parents were selfish and they made us selfish too. Just try to remember who prevented you from picking up the dying little puppy and let it die? Who asked us not to look at anti-social elements shouting slogans? Who stopped us from reading political pages of the newspapers?
Then our teachers: the best Intellectuality killing machine.
Our individuality, capacity to think, free ideas were systematically strangulated and we were made to believe that a "good job" is the only aim that an individual can ever think of. But we -the most intelligent of all creatures are FOOL enough not to think of the future that we are going to give to our offspring. Just as we are facing corruption and lawlessness due to the indifference of our previous generation, our children shall face far more grave situation and I guess by that time the Leaders and bureaucrats would have found better ways to make them believe too that they are HAPPY.

So be very sure that by overlooking the social evils today, we are not making our future any safer. Rather we are making the task of the conspirators and traitors much easier. To conclude, all I can say is "जागो दोस्तों जागो, इससे पहले की हमें नींद में ही मार दिया जाए। "