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Where did the Words come from?

Let us begin with the evolution of language on our planet. This type of evolution can be traced back to microbes utilizing chemical signaling to tell the others around them about their current state of affairs. From chemical signaling in bacteria to chromatophores in octopuses, from chirps in birds to the lions' roar, from the gurgling of a baby to the distinct vocal patterns of an adult human expressing, a fully developed set of phonetics specific to all languages we speak. We can just stop here and think about the variety in communication techniques that have evolved on our planet.

Communication arose first as a method to warn of impending danger. Communication was not always affection and anger, but its inception has its roots in fear. It has its roots in either resorting to fight or flight. From the depiction of fear, the process of communication started to diversify into many branches as diverse as the spectrum of species on our planet, and soon began to involve other emotional states, like hunger or affection in higher organisms. For the purpose of simplicity, the demarcation between higher organisms and lower organisms is based on the presence of noticeable forms of communication. A lion's roar is or the changing pigmentation on the skin of a chameleon makes them higher organisms. The chemical signaling seen among bacteria, or the pheromone signaling among ants are neither visible nor audible, and hence they have been classified as lower organisms. According to early cave paintings, man - an example of a higher organism, communicated using ochre and hand prints.
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The evolution of a structure to all of the common languages that we humans use to communicate took over fifteen to twenty thousand years. As hunter gatherers, what was initially a series of grunts and growls progressed into the complex semantics of languages as elaborated by Chomsky.

The question still remains unanswered. Why were vocal patterns associated to runes? Why was a squiggle on a clay tablet of a tax collector bringing happiness on the face of a person? Why does the hooting of an owl bring fear? Why does the purring of a cat invoke affection? Do these questions seem unrelated? They are unrelated on a grand scale, but are inherently related to one dominant aspect called interaction. Communicate to emote. It may not be emotions as in higher organisms, but a method used to imply.

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Any facts, figures or references stated here are made by the author & don't reflect the endorsement of iU at all times unless otherwise drafted by official staff at iU. This article was first published here on 22nd July 2014.
Adithya Ligory
Adithya Ligory is a contributing writer at Inspiration Unlimited eMagazine
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