Exploring theories of language origin, phonetic foundations, and effective learning strategies for fluency
Mohd Ishaq Shah
How did language come into being?
Linguists have cited various theories regarding the origin of language. A great and universally recognised author, George Yule, mentions some of the sources of origin theories in his book “The Origin of Language”, which I happened to read during my postgraduate studies in English language and literature. George Yule has identified both supernatural and natural sources of language, suggesting that it originated in a natural way. The detailed explanation about the origin of language can also be found in Block 1 of the Aspects of Language study material from IGNOU.
Divine Theory
First and foremost, reference is made to the Biblical account of origin: “God created Adam, and whatsoever he called every living creature—that was the name thereof” – Genesis 2:19. According to the Quran, “God told Adam the names of all the things.” In Hindu mythology, the goddess Sarasvati is said to have created language in the world. We notice that ideographs used in writing are often associated with divine images. Hence, language came into being. But the story does not end here; there are other theories of language origin as well.
The Natural Sound Theory
According to this theory, language originated from naturally occurring sounds that early humans imitated. For example: cuckoo, bang, buzz, hiss, bow-wow, etc. This theory is also called the Bow-Wow or Onomatopoeic Theory. It is also a fact that many words naturally echo in every language, e.g., “cock-a-doodle-doo” in English, “kukroo koo” in Hindi, and “kikri ki” in German.
The Pooh-Pooh Theory
Charles Darwin, in his The Descent of Man, proposed that human language, like that of himself, is primitive in nature—probably originating from the expressions of emotions. For example, a feeling of contempt might be accompanied by the action of puffing air out through the nostrils or mouth, producing sounds like “pooh” or “pish.” Critics of Darwin mockingly named this the Pooh-Pooh theory.
Ding-Dong Theory
Müller, a contemporary of Darwin, proposed this theory, claiming there was a mystical relationship between sounds and meanings. This instinct was present in primitive humans, whereby every impression from outside received a vocal expression from within.
Nature of Language
Regarding the nature of language, Yule has discussed various aspects, one of which is the “Arbitrary Nature of Language.” This implies that there is no concrete relationship between a word and its associated meaning. Although in animals, there is generally an apparent relation between signals and messages—for instance, an animal warning of an opponent often adopts an attacking posture. For example, a cat arches its back, spits, and appears ready to pounce. In human language, however, except for onomatopoeic words or expressions, there is no logical relationship between signals and messages. Therefore, the symbols used by humans are arbitrary. Had there been such a relationship, different words for the same entity—such as “water”—would not exist in various languages. In English, we say “water”; in Hindi, “jal”; in Urdu, “paani”; in Kashmiri, “poune”; and in Rajasthani, “pounde,” among others.
Structure of Language
Language has two main structures: phonetic and orthographic. The phonetic structure is based on sound systems, consisting of vowels and consonants. Vowels are unobstructed sounds produced by puffing air from the lungs through the glottis or Adam’s apple, which acts as a sound-regulating box. Vowels are not obstructed by any speech organs. There are 20 vowel sounds in English: 12 simple vowels and 8 diphthongs. Among the simple vowels, some are short, others long. There are 24 consonant sounds in English, categorised based on “place of articulation” and “manner of articulation.” The standard version, accepted internationally, has been devised by the International Phonetic Association (IPA).
The IPA created an international phonetic alphabet so that the sound values of most letters correspond to “international usage” (similar to Classical Latin). For example, consonant letters like ⟨b⟩, ⟨d⟩, ⟨f⟩, ⟨ɡ⟩, ⟨h⟩, ⟨k⟩, ⟨l⟩, ⟨m⟩, ⟨n⟩, ⟨p⟩, ⟨s⟩, ⟨t⟩, ⟨v⟩, ⟨w⟩, and ⟨z⟩ have more or less their initial values in English (e.g., g as in gill, h as in hill; p, t, k are unaspirated as in spill, skill). The vowel letters ⟨a⟩, ⟨e⟩, ⟨i⟩, ⟨o⟩, and ⟨u⟩ correspond to the long sound values of Latin: [i] as in machine, [u] as in rule, etc. Other Latin letters, particularly ⟨j⟩, ⟨r⟩, and ⟨y⟩, differ from English but have their IPA values in Latin or other European languages. Beyond the letters themselves, a variety of secondary symbols aid in transcription. Diacritic marks can be combined with letters to add tone and phonetic detail, such as secondary articulation. There are also special symbols for prosodic features like stress and intonation. IPA is widely used for transcription by linguists. Some American linguists, however, use a mix of IPA with Americanist phonetic notation, Sino-logical phonetic notation, or other non-standard symbols. Authors employing such non-standard notation are encouraged to include a chart or explanation of their choices, which is good practice, as linguists may differ in their understanding of IPA symbols, and conventions may change over time.
Towards Practical Learning
The challenge for learners of English at an initial level is understanding how to use these symbols in phonetic or orthographic contexts, especially because of various rules and confusions in both spoken and written forms. While many sounds share the same phonetic symbols in IPA, some sounds have different symbols and are used differently. For example, the phonetic sound [k] has variants represented orthographically as (C) and (Ch), as in cat, chemical, casual, and college. Similarly, the sound [f] can be represented as [f] or [ph]. The sound [g], as in goat, girl, gap, gas, and bag, lag, tag, is used in words like luxurious and taxonomy.
To avoid confusion, learners should consult dictionaries that provide phonetic transcriptions alongside meanings. Many Indian readers tend to look up words solely to understand their meanings while reading textbooks. However, pronunciation is a technical aspect that must be learned prior to understanding meanings, as meanings can often be inferred from context. The easiest way to become familiar with pronunciation is through phonetic drills, gradually adding more words to improve speaking skills.
In conclusion, a linguistic approach to learning English helps us sound correct and confident. In contrast, relying solely on orthographic methods—searching for word meanings—can leave us lost in a metaphorical forest, unable to find our way out of darkness, which hampers our performance. My experience as a language teacher has shown me that content enrichment is always possible, and its deficiency is often as problematic as poor communication skills. Strong communication makes our content impactful, while credibility suffers when content is good but delivery is weak.
Applied Grammar
Grammar plays a crucial role in writing skills, as grammatical accuracy significantly affects the quality of written work. Incorrect grammar and spelling mistakes create a poor impression and adversely impact results, especially in multiple-choice questions that require correct answers. Therefore, learning grammatical rules—such as tenses, narration, voice, pronouns, prepositions, conjunctions, interjections, and homonyms—is essential in language learning.