Unit One The Origins of Language 1: The Natural Sound Source:

The Origins of Language 2: The Social Interaction Source: Another proposal involving natural sounds has been called the “yo-he-ho” theory. The idea is that the sounds of a person involved in physical effort could be source of our language, especially when that physical effort involved several people and the interaction had to be coordinate. Early people must have lived in groups, only because larger groups offered better protection from attack.

2:The social interaction source Groups are social organizations, and to maintain those organizations some form of communication is required, even if it is grunts. So human sounds, however they were produced must have had some principles use within the life and social interaction of early human groups.

The origins of Language 3. The Physical Adaptation Source: Instead of looking at types of sounds as the source of human speech, we can look at the types of physical features human possess, especially those that are distinct from other creatures which may have been able to support speech production.

3. The Physical Adaptation Source: A. Teeth: Human teeth are upright, not slanting outwards like those of apes, and they are roughly even in height. They are very helpful in making sounds such as f or v. B. Lips: Human lips have much more complicated muscles than is found in other creatures and their flexibility certainly helps in making sounds like p, b.

3. The physical adaptation source: C. Mouth: The human mouth is small compared to other primates, and can be opened and closed rapidly, which also contains a smaller, thicker and more muscular tongue which can be used to shape a wide variety of sounds inside the oral cavity.

3. The Physical Adaptation Source: D. Larynx: The human larynx or voice box containing the vocal cords differs significantly in position from the larynx of other creatures such as monkeys. E. Pharynx: Above the vocal cords, the pharynx is created as along cavity which acts as a resonator for increased range and clarity of the sounds produced by the larynx and the vocal tract.