Between the deserts and pyramids of ancient Egypt, there is an enduring mystery hidden. An experiment on the origins of language has been shrouded in the dust of history for centuries, and it continues to inspire endless curiosity among scholars today.
The experiment, initiated by a legendary pharaoh Sametticus, sought to explore a hitherto unsolved question: if babies were placed together without any teaching of words, could they create new languages?
The Evolution of Language and the Examination of Modernity
According to historical sources, Pharaoh Samiticus of ancient Egypt conducted a bold and unique experiment. He asked the shepherds to take the two newborn babies to the island and not to speak any language to them. The motivation behind this was Pharaoh's desire to verify whether Egyptian was the root of human language.
If a baby is able to spontaneously produce a new language without verbal input, then this will be a strong piece of evidence to support his perception. In addition to the experiments of Pharaoh Sametticus, there are many theories about how language originated. Some scholars believe that the earliest languages may have originated from human imitations of other creatures in nature, such as animals.
Over time, humans may have developed a set of rules from simply imitating sounds to being able to refer to specific things with these sounds, and this form of communication has been refined and passed down from time to time.
Other theories suggest that reasons such as the expression of emotions, the sounds that come naturally in the process of labor, and even the need for communication in singing and ceremonies may be the triggers for the gradual emergence and evolution of language. Regardless of the veracity of these theories, they all paint a common picture: the complexity and interaction needs of human society provide the soil for the emergence and evolution of language.
The process and record of the experiment
At the behest of Pharaoh Sametticus, two newborn babies were taken to an island and isolated from the rest of the world. The role of the shepherd is extraordinary, he is not only a nurturer, but also an observer and recorder. The silent day-to-day care is thought-provoking – the shepherds feed the children, change their clothes, bathe and other basic care in strict silence.
The only means of communication are body movements, facial expressions, and eye contact. Over time, the baby's behavior gradually adapts to this special living environment. They begin to express their inner needs through laughter, crying, and various body movements.
For example, reaching out for food, smiling to show joy, frowning to show dissatisfaction. This seemingly simple act is in fact a basic act of communication, although it does not constitute a language. The shepherds take responsibility for their daily care and carefully record any new movements and sounds of the two children.
He pays particular attention to repetitive behaviors that may represent children's specific needs or emotions, hoping to find clues to early language formation. Due to his responsibilities, he could not directly participate in the children's language construction, but could only observe silently. Although the shepherd's ability to speak is limited, his ability to observe becomes more acute as the experiment progresses.
He noticed that children were able to find other ways to communicate in an environment where there was no spoken language. Their gestures and expressions gradually became more standardized and complex, as if they were developing a "language" system of their own. These developments have significant reference value for the study of how primitive humans crossed the gap without language and developed a communication system that could convey complex information.
One day, the word "Vieques" appeared and suddenly cut into the shepherd's daily observation. The discovery of the sound sparked a wave of research and speculation. The people of the court interacted with each other, with caution and a desire to study and analyze the possible meaning of the term, to see if it marked a new beginning—evidence of man's natural production of language.
But gradually it became clear that the children did not extend the word further and did not form more vocabulary or grammatical structures. Although the term has been extensively documented, analyzed, and discussed, it has failed to be a harbinger of a new language system. The experiment ultimately hinted at a deeper insight into the interplay of language, communication, and social behavior.
Children do not spontaneously develop a whole new language system without adult language input. Their communication is mainly achieved through non-verbal means, which seems to reflect the need for a broader social and cultural context in order for an entire language system to emerge.
Failure and reflection on the origin of language
Although the experiment took months or even years, it ultimately failed to reveal how language originated. One of the aims of Pharaoh Sammeticus' experiments was to determine whether Egyptian was the ancestor of all languages.
The assumption of the experiment is that if the child is able to develop the language autonomously in the absence of verbal input at all, the resulting language may be related to the Egyptian language. This intuitive goal prompted the shepherd to set a special way of dealing with the children, and the shepherd could only communicate with the baby through action and subtle body language.
Despite the rational structure and careful control of the experiment, the end result shows that the process of human language production may be more complex than expected. The babies did not create a new independent language, and the sounds they made, while the sounds they produced were the subject of a period of research and discussion, did not result in a systematic language that could be used to communicate more complex concepts.
Although experiments provide some insight into early human non-verbal communication, they provide few clues as to the origins of language. This suggests that language may have originated in a broader and collective process of social interaction, rather than being driven by isolated events or simply basic survival needs.
Around the origin of language, other royal families and rulers have made similar attempts throughout history. These attempts, including Roman Emperor Frederick II and King James IV of Scotland, sought to understand how language came into being through experiments with language silos.
They adopted similar methods to those of the Egyptian pharaohs, such as having a caregiver who could not speak to take care of the baby, or placing the baby in complete isolation. However, these experiments also ended in failure, failing to prove how language formed spontaneously.
None of these experiments have made substantial breakthroughs in trying to unravel the origins of language, which may be due to limitations of the experiments themselves, such as the size of the sample and the length of the experiments.
This has led the academic community to consider other possibilities, whether the formation of language requires the interaction and communication of a wider group, or whether it is the result of a long period of cultural accumulation and rich emotional expression and social exchange activities.
In fact, language, as a tool for conveying complex information and encompassing intellectual development, may have evolved as the structure of human society became richer and more complex. Because of the linguistic talent of primates and humans, researchers began to focus on the way apes and other primates communicated.
These studies reveal the existence of complex forms of communication and social interactions even in non-human primates, which provide new clues and directions for understanding and analyzing the origins of human language. For those who are unable to speak, such as mute children, the richness and complexity of non-verbal means can also be seen in their way of communicating.
These phenomena have led researchers to realize that scattered sounds and shouts cannot be automatically transformed into language in the absence of a systematic pattern of social communication and language learning opportunities.
A pluralistic theory of the origin of language
In exploring how and where languages were born, historians and linguists have come up with a variety of theories to explain them. While it is impossible to know exactly how humans first came to use language, these theories provide an extremely revealing perspective on the various possible paths to the origins of language.
One of these is the "Wow Theory", which hypothesizes that early humans may have developed an ability to mimic animal sounds in nature. Over time, humans not only imitated the sounds of these animals, but also gradually gave specific meanings to these sounds, eventually forming a primitive system of communication.
As they adapt to their environment further, these mimicked sounds may continue to evolve in response to the need for applicability and inheritance, eventually evolving into complex language systems. The exclamation theory suggests that early humans may have made a variety of natural sounds in response to emotional agitation, such as roaring in anger or screaming in shock.
The sounds produced in these emotional responses are progressively used to express specific emotions and experiences because of their intense expressiveness. With the deepening and widespread application of this expression, these sounds may be further enriched and solidified into more standardized linguistic symbols, providing a more efficient means of conveying emotions and intentions between different individuals.
Singing theory emphasizes the role of music and rhythm in the development of language, which has its origins in the rituals and collective activities of primitive humans. During common celebrations or religious events, people use chorus, syllable repetition, and rhythm to strengthen collective unity and emotional resonance.
The sounds and rhythms involved in this process may have evolved into a series of "syllables" and "words", and eventually became an early form of communication. The "yelling-drinking" theory considers how the rhythm of labor affects the formation of language.
In primitive societies, in order to harmonize the rhythm of collective labor or to boost the morale of labor, people would make simple, rhythmic sounds that became systematic over time and contained the transmission of information, such as assisting in synchronized actions or indicating specific instructions.
In the course of a long period of labor, these shouts may form specific syllables and patterns, and gradually develop into a simple way of communication.
Although the exact historical basis for these theories is difficult to verify, they reflect a common denominator: the most primitive human languages may not have emerged overnight, but evolved over a long period of natural, social, and cultural processes.
The development of language may require specific stimuli that recur in the environment, and the evolution of social interactions and cultural practices as key drivers of language innovation.
Resources:
1. "The Tale of Ancient Egypt" - John A. Wilson
2. "The Origin of Language" - François Jacob
3. "Language Evolution: A Journey from 'Wow' to 'Words'" - Christina Kennedy
4. "Mysteries of Ancient Egypt" - Bob Blair
5. "An Exploration of the Origins of Human Language" - George W. Yule