the evolution of speech

[BIGDOGY]

simply how did speech evolve? how did the first human formulate the first word and manage to teach it and its meaning to other people and why are there so many different languages in the world with no disernable words that have the same meaning?

[kwicky]

Interestingly when a brain scan is made certain areas of the brain light up when listening or speaking so the capability for speech has always existed. The English language is so inefficient Geo Berrnard Shaw gave a prize for a new alphabet. The winner was a linquist who created the Shavian script, an alphabet of 48 characters each with a distinct sound and is based on phonetics. Only this year the teaching of reading by phonetics was introduced into all primary schools. It might explain why British children are one of the worst masters of their own language.

[Theland]

To digress a little. Do we in the U.K. need foreign languages, when the rest of the world seems to speak English? Seriously.

[Peter Pedant]

Kwicky is diverging a bit
in 1970s a non starting initial teaching alphabet was intoduced and dropped around tenyears later when it was shown not to work (kids didnt read faster or better)

This is a huge subject - try The Language Instinct by Stephen Pinker, I think

The country with the most profuse language differences is PNG (papua new guinea) and so any book with linguistics and PNG in the title is going to look at the profusion of languages. I think they talk of classes, stocks and orders of languages and PNG has the largest number of language stocks.

so, if there was this diversity of languages, well everywhere, then why does English, Arabic and Mandarin and Spansih account for at least 50% of speakers of any language ? This is a question in historical or geographical linguistics

what else ?

Oh yeah.... you need to look at anatomy and decide how the human larynx developed
as that is necessary for forming sounds that we do that chimps can't (big effort in the fifties trying to get chimps to speak and understand, and then teaching them sign-language and then giving up as a waste of time - see First signs of washoe)

you can spend years on this......

PP

[kwicky]

Phonetics is the new teaching method for reading as it has greater success in the majority of children. In the recent past children were taught by look and learn techniques which little for their understanding. This will show the sounds produced by using phonetic characters:

http://www.focusonphonics.co.uk/index2.php?act ion=underestand

[Theland]

I taught my kids with the Peter & Jane books - brilliant - I believe God confused language as in the story of the tower of Babel.

[kwicky]

The government has now taking reading by phonetics on board after this review by Jim Rose and has proved to be more successful than the old look and learn techniques. It should now be common practice in primary schools.

http://www.standards.dfes.gov.uk/rosereview/

[Bob A Job]

all animals use audiable noises as a form of comunication, from a dog barking (woof) to a parents first view of a baby (aaahhh) they are all just extensions of emotional feeling, eventually these expresions become more complex as the emotions become more specific. anyone who has a cat can tell the difference between a hungry cry and an attention cry.
Eventually these expresions become complex vocal noises that are interpreted by others with specific meanings, and language developes. these vocal expresions are only localy interpretd, and variations of these explain the difference in dialect between different regions.
my apologies in spelling and rambling as its paddys day and im p!ssed.