• Question: how did people start to teach each other different languages?

    Asked by gracedb to Laura, Lily, Mark, Paul, Sarah on 23 Jun 2010 in Categories: .
    • Photo: Lily Asquith

      Lily Asquith answered on 22 Jun 2010:

      Nice question. I imagine it was so they could do trade with one another, and share information about routes across the deserts/seas, and chat each other up in general.

    • Photo: Mark Roberts

      Mark Roberts answered on 22 Jun 2010:

      Good qu –

      It is possible to explain via evolution i you think about it the ability to use language to pass on complex ideas and information has a huge selective advantage – if you can teach your young to avoid something bad or do something good – then you’ll reproduce better than others and hence survive!

      So it probably started off as different noises and grunts and as the information passed on become more complex so did the language……

    • Photo: Sarah Bardsley

      Sarah Bardsley answered on 23 Jun 2010:

      Perhaps when different groups traded things with each other – like food – they would teach each other the names of things.

    • Photo: Paul Roche

      Paul Roche answered on 23 Jun 2010:

      That was something I always wondered about as well! How do you first start to teach someone your language, if you don’t speak theirs?!

      I guess it starts with simple pointing and naming things, but after that I have no idea – we need a linguist to help us there.

Comments