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Origin of every human language

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Juаn
Senior Member
Colombia
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 Message 9 of 77
16 April 2011 at 1:44am | IP Logged 
Arekkusu wrote:
I think that image was put there to inform members that this site is about discerning
myth from fact in language learning.


I could be wrong, but I am willing to bet the forum creator didn't have epistemology in mind when designing the layout :)
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hrhenry
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languagehopper.blogs
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 Message 10 of 77
16 April 2011 at 2:01am | IP Logged 
JW wrote:

However, I disagree that the language was "prehistoric." I believe it occurred extemporaneously in approximately 2300 BC. I also disagree that it was an African language, rather I believe it was a Semitic language.

Egyptian hieroglyphs have been attested from a thousand years before that, not to mention Sumerian script predating it. Surely you're not suggesting that two different writing systems represented the same language?

R.
==
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JW
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 Message 11 of 77
16 April 2011 at 2:59am | IP Logged 
Juаn wrote:
Arekkusu wrote:
I think that image was put there to inform members that this site is about discerning myth from fact in language learning.

I could be wrong, but I am willing to bet the forum creator didn't have epistemology in mind when designing the layout :)

I would agree with you, but perhaps Francois could opine? I would guess that he used the tower in the banner as it is a universally recognized symbol of the multiplicity of languages.

For example, the European union has issued this poster:



And the European Parliament building in Strasbourg was designed based on a 1563 painting of the Tower of Babel by Pieter Brueghel, which is, incidentally, the same painting used in our forum banner:



Edited by JW on 16 April 2011 at 3:00am

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JW
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 Message 12 of 77
16 April 2011 at 3:05am | IP Logged 
hrhenry wrote:
JW wrote:

However, I disagree that the language was "prehistoric." I believe it occurred extemporaneously in approximately 2300 BC. I also disagree that it was an African language, rather I believe it was a Semitic language.

Egyptian hieroglyphs have been attested from a thousand years before that, not to mention Sumerian script predating it. Surely you're not suggesting that two different writing systems represented the same language?

R.
==

As I said, I certainly would not be dogmatic about the date. However, I would be interested to know the method of dating used in the attestations you mention.
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HMS
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 Message 13 of 77
16 April 2011 at 3:59am | IP Logged 
Method of dating:

Archaeological,astronomical events, statigraphy,typology and artifacts found at same time. Radio carbon dating, King lists of the Akkadian empires...

The Venus Tablet of Ammi-saduqa - which recorded the first and last appearance of Venus each year.

I googled all this and it's all explained in this (very long) link:

This explains it, I think:
http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=9veK7E2JwkUC&pg=PA44&lpg= PA44&dq=dating+ancient+sumerian+scripts&source=bl&ots=B7uK3i QVk-&sig=RNLEFHo7K5aTmErD6v84sKWfzu4&hl=en&ei=bfWoTY-XL4nx4Q ac3s3OCg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CC0Q6AE wAQ#v=onepage&q&f=false
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JW
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 Message 14 of 77
16 April 2011 at 4:06am | IP Logged 
HMS wrote:
Method of dating:

Archaeological,astronomical events, statigraphy,typology and artifacts found at same time. Radio carbon dating, King lists of the Akkadian empires...

The Venus Tablet of Ammi-saduqa - which recorded the first and last appearance of Venus each year.

I googled all this and it's all explained in this (very long) link:

This explains it, I think:
http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=9veK7E2JwkUC&pg=PA44&lpg= PA44&dq=dating+ancient+sumerian+scripts&source=bl&ots=B7uK3i QVk-&sig=RNLEFHo7K5aTmErD6v84sKWfzu4&hl=en&ei=bfWoTY-XL4nx4Q ac3s3OCg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CC0Q6AE wAQ#v=onepage&q&f=false

Interesting. I will take a look.

Additionally, I found this (also very long) paper that some may find interesting:

http://faculty.gordon.edu/hu/bi/Ted_Hildebrandt/OTeSources/0 1-Genesis/Text/Articles-Books/Seely_Babel_WTJ.pdf

I have not read it but may do so (not sure I want to invest that much time). I skimmed it and did see some support for a 3500 BC - 2400 BC date but there is much there to digest.
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HMS
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England
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 Message 15 of 77
16 April 2011 at 4:30am | IP Logged 
Pages 12 & 13 of that (interesting) article put a very good argument against the notion that there was only one language before the tower of Babel was built. Also, a very valid point worthy of note is explained: During the time of Genesis, the world was not considered as big as we actually now know it to be.
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Merv
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 Message 16 of 77
16 April 2011 at 4:40am | IP Logged 
Language development is likely a process that includes both abrupt breaks (i.e. the tower of Babel) and slow
linguistic evolution. It is obvious that the Indo-European languages all evolved from one mother tongue. It is not so
obvious that Indo-European is in any way related to Papuan languages or that Sino-Tibetan is related to Nilo-
Saharan languages.

JW: I mostly agree with you but disagree on the original language being Semitic. It is true that much of the present
Middle East is Semitic, but most linguists agree that Sumerian wasn't even Semitic (nor was it Indo-European, it was
an isolate). Elamitic, spoken very near Mesopotamia, is possibly related to the Dravidian of India. And the Hattian
language spoken once in Turkey is believed by many to be related to present Pontic languages on the other side of
the Black Sea, like Circassian. So it is very tricky to say the ancient tongue was related particularly to any currently
existing language. Perhaps there is no modern offshoot of the ancient language and all were re-created from Babel
onwards.


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