If we're all from Africa originally, how did so many countries develop such different languages?

Question

Just wondering. I mean, there's probably an obvious answer that I haven't thought of.

That's a nice idea, Hebrew Scared, but I think the bible is a bit too inconclusive to earn you best answer.

Answer 1

The first humans were originally from Africa, but first humans didn't have ability to speak. It took thousands of years and evolution to develop ability to speak. By that time people had already settled all over the world. There are 2 theories about how languages developed. First one is mono-genesis and the second poly-genesis. According to mono-genesis, originally only one language appeared and it was spoken by all people. But as people started to move to different places this language just started to differ more and more. So eventually these 'dialects' were so much different that the original language that they became different languages. The other theory, poly-genesis, says that many different languages appeared at the same time, but that they all died out except one. After that the same thing happened as in first theory. The first language, according to scientists, was indoeuropean. It was spoken in today's Europe and Asia. But there are no written sources of this language. It eventually started to branch into several different families : Slavic, Germanic, Romanic... For example, Slavic languages are Russian, Serbian, Belorussian, Bulgarian, Slovakian, Ukranian, Macedonian, Polish etc. Germanic languages are German, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, English, while Romanic are Italian, Spanish, Romanina, Portugese. These families later formed different groups, based mostly on their geographical position, for example Scandianvian, East-Slavic... So, it all happend pretty much because of mobility. If people weren't moving around, exploring, finding new and suitable places to live and just stayed put on one place they would probably still speak one language. But, it's better this way, don't you think? :)

Answer 2

first it's not in the bible, that story is in the Old Testiment, and please tell me you don't really believe that's how differnt languages were formed. There really isn't just one simple asnwer, look at all aspects of cultures, their are some similarities and some differences. It's a product of enviorment. Think about dialects...why do people in the south have a southern draw, or anyone with a accent for that matter....It is important to distinguish between speech and language. Speech is one of many methods of conveying language. Language is the ability to use abstract symbols to represent objects/concepts etc. The origin of language (glottogony, glossogeny) is a topic that has been written about for centuries, but the ephemeral nature of speech means that there is almost no data on which to base conclusions on the subject. It is believed that at least once during human evolution, a system of verbal communication emerged from proto-linguistic or non-linguistic means of communication, but beyond that little can be said. No current human group, anywhere, speaks a "primitive" or rudimentary language. While existing languages differ in the size and subjects covered in their several lexicons, all human languages possess the grammar and syntax needed, and can invent, translate, or borrow the vocabulary needed to express the full range of their speakers' concepts.
Homo sapiens clearly have an inherent capability for language. Whether other extinct hominid species, such as Neanderthals, possessed such a capacity is not known.

Answer 3

Well it did take thousands of years to come to where we are today in human language. Supposedly there was an original mother tongue that all humans spoke, but that is a theory of linguistics. There is not much known about it though. But there are families of languages, such as the Indo-European Family which both Hindi and English are in as weird as that may seem to you. Hopefully more might be learned about the original mother tongue so that it can be understood how the various language families came about. But the thing is, how developed was this original language in Africa? Was it a minimal language or was it complete like our languages of today?


Language is a fascinating subject in itself to study, not much is known about how we even acquire it. But without it, I think we would still be living in caves.

Answer 4

Do you realize how much English has changed in the past 50 years? Can you read Shakespearean English? How about Chaucerian English? Multiply the time frame between now and Chaucer by a factor of 100, and separate groups from each other by geography, and it is not so difficult to understand how they might develop very different languages.

Answer 5

Tess, it is in the Bible It is called the Tower of Babel.