戴伟栋语言学笔记（全）.docVIP

Chapter 1??What is language?[A] The origins of languageSome speculations of the origins of language:① The divine sourceThe basic hypothesis: if infants were allowed to grow up without hearing any language, then they would spontaneously begin using the original god-given language.Actually, children living without access to human speech in their early years grow up with no language at all.② The natural-sound sourceThe bow-wow theory: the suggestion is that primitive words could have been imitations of the natural sounds which early men and women heard around them.The “Yo-heave-ho” theory