Why Did Humanity Develop Thousands of Languages?

Imagine that there is only one language spoken in the world. But it is ‘English world language’ It’s not like ‘I think it’s Chinese’; What if from the very beginning all humanity developed a single common language?

Seriously, why didn’t that happen? A living species to tell all its troubles Why and how did it create hundreds of languages ​​even at small distances? How did communities living in an area the size of a city develop different languages? If you have wondered the answer to this question, you are not alone. Let’s look at all the possible answers… But before we get to the answers, it’s worth mentioning; There is no clear and single answer to this question…

The amount of rainfall, the mountains, the oceans… Nature seems to have played a dominant role in our language development.

Let’s say this up front; Another thing that is remarkable as the number of languages ​​is so much. The fact that the number of languages ​​is very low in some regions and extremely dense in some regions. For example, Nigeria, Papua New Guinea and Indonesia are home to 29% of all languages ​​spoken in the world. In regions with tropical climates, the diversity of languages ​​also seems to be greater.

Here, these data are the first thing to come to mind at the point of diversification of languages. climate and geography brings.

Let’s start with the simplest; people living on both sides of those mountains in a geography divided by mountains. that they are almost unlikely to interact with each other. If we think about it, it is very likely that they developed different languages. Likewise, people living on both sides of the lands divided by oceans or seas may have naturally formed different languages.

However, the effect of nature on language is not limited to this. In addition, the amount of precipitation received by the region; therefore behaviors such as feeding, migration and changes in the number of people living in that region also affect the number of languages. A study conducted on this subject also shows that the amount of precipitation affects the language distribution.

So far everything is fine. So, how can different languages ​​arise in two very close regions that are neither divided by a mountain nor separated by an ocean?

This is where the fact that languages ​​are affected by the sociocultural structure comes into play. Societies that live in small groups created a language of communication among their small groupsThey may also have used this language to distinguish their own community from other communities.

Think of it this way; In a primitive society of several dozen individuals, priority was hunting and feeding. When they catch a big prey they may have to call each other from far away. In such a scenario, they may have developed calls and expressions that only their own group would understand in order to distinguish themselves from other ‘competitors’.

In addition, after a while in increasingly crowded societies, a ‘splitting’ tendency can be shown. This too In the divided societies, the words change over time and a new communication language is developed. may result in. Or a language may change as the distance it is spoken grows, splitting into fragmented languages ​​that eventually become a brand new language in their own region.

Wars, religions and more ‘social issues’ may also have influenced the proliferation of languages

It is thought that situations such as societies whose structure has changed with wars, forced migrations and invasions may also have an effect on the diversity of languages. Societies that have spread over a wider area and have been disconnected over time An example of this is the differentiation of languages. At the same time, it is stated that religions may have affected many aspects of the social structure, as well as having an impact on language.

Trying to explain such a deep-rooted and influential issue for a single reason doesn’t sound right anyway.

Languages ​​are not fixed constructs. Let’s take a look at today’s Turkish and Göktürk Turkish, for example. Despite similar words and expressions, we see how big differences there are. as it stands within different interactions, different events and ‘areas of need’ It is very possible that there are multiple reasons for the formation of different languages, expressions.

Still, scientists and researchers investigating this issue, vital to human history. He agrees that we need to learn more about one of the topics, the emergence and evolution of languages. As more research is done, new data will continue to elucidate this issue.

Resources: BioScience, The Royal Society Publishing, The Conversation