what is the first langauge sponken by mankind?

Answer 1

It's probably extinct by now. So many cultures/religions/races/etc have lived and died, there's probably no real way to ever find out.

Answer 2

Years ago I remember reading a paper about this very thing. The conclusion, as best I can remember it now was, that the first spoken 'language' was probably just grunts and pointing. Early language would have been very simple and, probably, based on words for an item that sounded very much like the sound the item made.

For example, in the ancient Egyptian, the word for "Cat" was "Mau"... because that's the sound a cat makes... MEOW. There are other examples, but this is a good one.

If you think of "Animal Language" you know that birds make different sounds depending on wanting to communicate food or danger... dogs and cats have a very distince sound for other animals, including some that are reserved for humans.

The basis for the languages we speak; English, Spanish, Latin etc, is West Germanic.

There are several good books on the origins of language and you should be able to find at least one of them at your local library... it's a fascinating topic and you will be happy you read a book on the subject. not every answer is on the internet, doncha' know. 8-)

Answer 3

What distinguishes language from animal grunts and whistles, is syntax. Pointing at a rock and grunting is not language. 'See the rock' is language. We have a noun, a verb, and object. The origin and evolution of language, this is a question that is still today discussed by linguists, anthropologists, palaeontologists and other scientist who are concerned with this question. There is little doubt that languages are related. The word for Mother, for example, is so similar in so many different languages, that it's easy to see that there must have been a root language from which the others are decedent.

Answer 4

How do you define language? Is it a series of grunts that convey ideas? For example, pointing to something and grunting, to mean 'bring it here' or 'give me some'.
If you mean a language with lots of verbs, declensions, modifiers etc, no one really knows. Linguistic researchers have found some interesting anomalies in modern languages -- some, for example, seem to have been created in isolation and bear little or no resemblance to any other known language, such as some of the Siberian and Inuit languages. Other languages have many links, which would indicate that people were in contact with speakers of other languages and gradually assimilated words into their language. English is a good example of one of these multiple-rooted languages. There are words that are Anglo Saxon in origin, French, Spanish, and many others. One of the very interesting languages is Swahili, which was deliberately created from African, English, Moorish, and I forget what other languages, but I believe there are five root languages that make up Swahili. It began as a trading lingo, and developed into a full language. There have been attempts to create artificial languages, such as Ro and Esperanto, but they have never caught on, largely because they are not working languages and no one uses them except for esoteric linguistic purposes. But Swahili was a working language that grew and developed into a lovely language that is spoken today by millions.

Answer 5

The language is a dead language now because according to the Bible when the Tower of Babel was being built God brought all of the foreign languages to the world to keep it from being built!

Answer 6

It was through sound & gestures that the man first spoke.There was no lang. as such

Answer 7

cuniform was one of the first written languages. not sure about spoken.

Answer 8

Hebrew of course!

Answer 9

my babies first words were gagagaaa... but i suppose that they had calls like hooting and moooooo or singing calls like aiii aiii aiii aaayyyye aye aye oooh ooooh (or was that the human league )

Answer 10

religious or scientific?