How did there become so many diverse languages over history. Did each country simply make noises into language

Answer 1

We may have evolved language earlier than we evolved into humans. Language evolves in much the same way that species do. Minor changes add up, eventually turning one language into many. For instance, many people throughout Europe spoke Latin thanks to the Roman Empire. After it fell, various groups of people in different areas, over hundreds of years, began to change their languages into something different. Small changes added up over the years to create the various Romance languages, like Spanish, Italian, and French. You can hear the similarities still, though. Like, mother in French is "mere" and in Spanish it's "madre". Languages also borrow heavily from each other. English is sort of a mishmash of Germanic roots with a heavy dose of French, and then random other stuff thrown in. This is why our spelling and grammar are so weird and hard to learn. You can hear our language continue to evolve, with various dialects springing up and disappearing constantly. The regional accents and dialects we hear are part of this. Theoretically, if communication and travel completely collapse, those dialects could evolve into different languages. We could end up with Southern, Midwestern, New Yorkese, and Urban Youth as languages rather than English dialects. Cool, eh?

The probability is that we've had language as long as we've been human. Since this is probably the case, there was probably the one original tongue wayyyyyy back when, and all the variety that we have now has evolved out of that.

Answer 2

I agree with random about the evolution of language, although i would go further and liken it to the radial theory of evolution. In Australia there over five hundred different languages with more dialects thrown in for good measure. Tribes which lived close together and traded with each other had languages which were very similar. Those tribes which may have been a territory or two away also had similar languages although there were slightly more differences than those adjacent to each other. The further away from a point, in any direction, the more different the languages are. This was due to the different environments encountered and the need for different words and descriptions. Another reason for the bastardization of a parent language is the different pronunciation which is changed and handed down over generations. This also accounts for the many different accents within the same language. By the same token animals which belong to the same species may have slightly different physical characteristics according to the environment they live in. For example members of the same finch species may have different beaks according to the type of seed which available as a food source. Similar process different medium.

Answer 3

Languages are the products of "proto-languages" that are the languages from which the daughter languages of a language family originate. For example, at one time proto-Indo-European was spoken, and over time and population dispersal different dialects would have been spoken. Eventually the dialects become mutually unintelligible (can't be mutually understood) and they become separate languages. There are various theories for the development of human language - check an introductory linguistic anthropology textbook - a good one is Language Culture and Society by Zdenek Salzmann.

Answer 4

According to my copy of The American Heritage College Dictionary, most languages are derived from the same Proto European-Indo foundations. They were further subdivided into others language groups.
Example

1) Proto-European group
a. Balto-Slavic
i. Baltic
ii. Slavic
b. Germanic
i. North Germanic
ii. West Germanic
iii. East Germanic
c. Celtic
i. Insular
ii. Continental
d. Italic
i. Latino-Faliscan
ii. Osco-Umbrian
2). Indo group
a. Albanian
b. Hellenic
c. Anatolian
d. Indo-Iranian
i. Indic
ii. Dardic
iii. Nuristani (Kafir)
iv. Iranian
e. Tocharin

There are also many further subdivisions which would take too long for me to type so I won't. As a side note English is listed as to have come from West Germanic branched into - Old English branched into - Middle English - branched into English as we speak now.
I'm not sure about the Asiatic languages such as Chinese, but is is likely that they developed compeltely separately i.e. NOT from the Indo-European group.
Hope this helps you!

Answer 5

From the beginning of time until God got upset with man falling away from true worship, the language was Hebrew.
While the builders of the tower of BABEL were working on it, God changed the languages they spoke so that one could not understand the other, and they dispersed to countries in groups that were still able to talk to each other.

Answer 6

I think that groups gathered and invented agreed upon sound and that became words and that is how language happened.

Answer 7

a continuos process of travelling and subsequent isolation