The role of sound symbolism in protolanguage: Some linguistic and archaeological speculations
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.12775/v10235-011-0007-0Abstract
In this paper, I have tried to clarify the role of sound symbolism in the early development of human language vocabulary The mimicking of natural sounds by means of an articulated language, producing onomatopoeic sound-symbolism could be considered as one first stage in human language vocabulary evolution. The following step consists in using sounds to symbolize phenomena perceptible by non-auditory senses. Sound symbolization began to relate certain sounds to the visual aspects of objects such as size or shape or to certain aspects of actions and states. This is called pheno-mimic sound-symbolism. The transition from phono-mimic or onomatopoeic sound symbolism to pheno-mimic sound representations can be related to the stage of human mind evolution proposed by S. Mithen (1996) in which domain-specific modules work together with a seamless flow of information across different domains. This is called cognitive fluidity. This cognitive fluidity could be responsible for the connection between different cognitive abilities: visual processing, auditory processing and the socialsemiotic activity of linguistic symbolism.
References
Bartens, A. (2000). Ideophones and sound symbolism in atlantic creoles. Helsinki: The Finnish Academy of Science and Letters.
Bengtson J. D. & Ruhlen, M. (1994). Global Etymologies. In M. Ruhlen (Ed.), On the Origin of Languages. Studies in Linguistic Taxonomy (p. 277-366). Stanford: Stanford University Press.
Campbell, L. (2008). What can we learn about the earliest human language by comparing languages known today?. In B. Laks (Ed.), Origin and Evolution of Languages. Approaches, Models, Paradigm (p.79-111). London: Equinox.
Coulmas, F. (2003). Writing Systems. An introduction to their linguistic analysis. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Décsy, G. (1991). The Indoeuropean protolanguage: a computational reconstruction. Bloomington: Eurolingua.
Desfayes, M. (2005). Origin of male and female symbols. Rivista di Biologia / Biology Forum 98, 197-202. (http://www.michel-desfayes.org/?p=15).
Diffloth, G. (1994).“i: big, a: small”. In Hinton, Nichols & Ohala (eds.) 1994: 107-114
Guthrie, M. (1970). Comparative Bantu: an introduction to the comparative linguistics and prehistory of the Bantu languages. Vol 4. Amersham: Gregg International Publishers.
Hinton, L., Nichols, J. & Ohala, J. J. (Eds.) (1994). Sound symbolism. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Hauser, M. D., Chomsky, N. & Fitch, T. (2002). The faculty of language: What is it, Who has it, and How Did it evolved. Science, 298, 1569-1579.
Hock, H. H. (1993). Swallow tales: chance and the world etymology MALIQ’A ‘swallow, throat’. Chicago Linguistic Society, 29, 215-219.
Jackendoff, R. (2002). Foundations of Language. Brain, Grammar, Evolution. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Jennet, K. D. (2008). Female figurines of the upper paleolithic. Texas State Univerisity Honor’s Thesis.
Jiménez Zamudio, R. (1998). Gramática de la lengua sumeria. Madrid: Ediciones Clásicas.
Kluge, F. (1995). Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter.
Leroi-Gourhan, A. (1958). Répartition et gropement des animaux dans l’art parietal paléolithic. Bulletin de la société préhistorique française, 55, 9, 515-528.
Leroi-Gourhan, A. (1967). Treasures of prehistoric art. New York: Abrams.
McBrearty, S. & Brooks, A. S. (2000). The revolution that wasn’t: a new interpretation of the origin of modern human behavior. Journal of Human Evolution, 39, 453-563.
Michalovski, P. (2004). Sumerian. In R. D. Woodard (Ed.), The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the World’s Ancient Languages (p. 19-59). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Mithen, S. (1996). The Prehistory of the Mind. The Cognitive Origins of Art, Religion and Science. London: Thames & Hudson.
Moreno Cabrera, J. C. (2004). Voces ancestrales. Paleolexicología, semántica diacrónica y arte prehistórico. In M. Villayandre Llamazares (Ed.), Actas del V Congreso de Lingüística General. Vol 1. (p. 123-148). Madrid: Arco.
Nettle, D. (1999). Linguistic Diversity. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Nichols, J. (1998). The origin and dispersal of languages: linguistic evidence. In N. G. Jablonski y L. A. Aiello (Eds.), The origin and diversification of Language (p.127-170). San Francisco: California Academy of Sciences.
Noble, W. & Davidson, I. (1996). Human evolution, language and mind. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Rogers, H. (2005). Writing Systems. A Linguistic Approach. Oxford: Blackwell.
Swadesh, M. (1971). The Origin and Diversification of Language. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.
Ultan, R. (1978). Size-sound symbolism. In J. H. Greenberg (Ed.), Universals of Human Language. Volume 2. Phonology (p. 525-568). Stanford: Stanford University Press.
Voelts, F. K. E. & Kilian-Hatz C. (eds.) (2001). Ideophones. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
Stats
Number of views and downloads: 440
Number of citations: 0