Language and Culture Prof. R. Hickey ss 2006 The evolution of language

The evolution of language

• The expansion of language –
• Martina Kleinebreil

First steps

• - Humans named themselves - parts of body - the immediate environment

Inwards and Outwards Inwards and Outwards

• The human body, and the space surrounding it, presumably formed the basis of further meaning extensions.

Outwards:

• Humans body-parts move outwards to features of environment. e.g.Tok Pisin (Papua New Guinea)

• het = head het bilong diwai - top of a tree han = hand han bilong diwai – branch of a tree han bilong pik – front legs of a pig Or even in English: head of state

Inwards:

• Outer behaviour is a regular source for talk about the inner mental self. e.g. Physical sight expressions I see what Helen means. Peter is still in the dark.

Physical holding - mental grasping:

• - Did you grasp what he meant? - Did you get this? - Paul hold on to his point of view.