Who invented languages, I mean Adam and Eve spoke the same language, how come there's different languages??

Question

Just say Adam [&&] Eve spoken English.
Where did the French language come in?
Or the German?

Answer 1

If you're going by the Bible, languages came about after the tower of Babel - God saw what humanity would be capable of if they worked together, so he split us into differing factions who can't understand each other.

If you're not, then modern language evolved out of mutation of earlier languages. WAY back in history almost all European languages came from the same base, and as such are all related and known as the Indo-European family. For instance French and English - even Greek, have much more in common with each other than any of them do with Chinese, which evolved from a different language base.

The very first languages would have been very simple, with only words for very simple concepts - here, there, me, you, hot, cold etc. Other animals - dolphins and chimps for instance - have very very basic languages on this level. More complex words would have entered gradually as humanity became more self-aware (therefore abstract words like "right" and "wrong" would come about) and needed new ways of expressing themselves. Where a word doesn't exist a foreign word is sometimes used. There is no English word which means entrepreneur - so we use the French word. Similarly the French use the English phrase "le week-end"

Answer 2

The Biblical answer is that people were made to speak different languages after they tried to build the Tower of Babel (a tower to the sky, pride goeth before a fall, that sorta thing.)

Basically, humans were getting too big for their britches and God made them all start speaking different languages so they couldn't work on the tower together.

Though based on how many illegal immigrants work on construction sites, despite a limited command of English, I'm not sure it would matter that much.

I mean, just because they speak differently, they can't use bricks and mortar anymore? Did speaking different languages make them stupid? Or were they just too freaked out?

The linguistics degree answer is that people in a certain area speak pretty much the same language, but as their groups get larger and move away, the language starts changing among the smaller groups.

A dialect (a variant of a language) changes until it becomes unintelligible to other speakers of that language. Then, it's considered another language.

French and German are both from the Germanic branch of the Indo-European language family. Well, Old French, anyway. Later French became a Romance language (it was influenced strongly by Latin.)

English is also a Germanic language. If you go back to historical documents, you find that Old German, Old French, and Old English are much more similar.

It's just that they've evolved over time and now they seem much more different.

Answer 3

Nobody "invented" language, it's something that grew organically from people trying to communicate with each other.

The root would be some "Indo-European" language from which other languages would form.

For example, Latin gave rise to the "romance" languages of French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese and Romanian. All of these have the same base (Latin) but they've been modified from the original due to time and geographical isolation.

English would have come from German. At some point Old English split off from the West Germanic languages but remained similar in terms of grammar to Old High German. With time this became Middle English and finally "modern" English which is recognisable as the language used in Shakespeare.

Answer 4

It is believed that the first language the human beings spoke was a primitive language full of meaningful "clics", like in some African languages.
The language which is more closely related to the first language is the language that the Bushmen speak in Africa (Tanzania, I think).
All the languages were supposed to evolve from that first language.

Answer 5

Correction, only Eve spoke. Adam just nodded.

Answer 6

Theres this bit early on in the old testament about when the people tried to build a tower in Babylon so high that they could be Gods, and of course God didn't like this, so he made them all speak different languages so they couldn't communicate to build the tower. I don't remember where it is, but I'm sure someone else on here would know.

Answer 7

Adam and Eve???

Hansel and Gretel

Humpty Dumpty

Old King Cole

Grand Old Duke of York (He DID exist)

Remember the bible was written in English!!!!

Answer 8

Adam and Eve and of course Lilith Adams first wife are only symbolic characters not meant to be taken literally

Answer 9

umm there was no 'adam and eve.' no one invented languages, they just sort of happen lol

Answer 10

that is if you believe that adam and eve were the first people on the planet