Origins of Language: Emotivist, Imitative, Instrumental Theories

Theories on the Origin of Language

The Emotivist Theory posits that human language evolved naturally from gestures or exclamations, reflecting the spontaneous and instinctive animal nature used to express emotions and subjective experiences directly. Initially, communication occurred through natural signs: interjections, shouts, and screams common to all hominids, expressing their emotions and needs. This initial expressive phase evolved, requiring a shared code for effective emotional impact, leading to articulate and conventional speech, entirely symbolic. This second phase, the copy phase, allows for shared and impressed emotions. The qualitative leap between these language forms remains unclear.

The Imitative Theory suggests that language originated from the human tendency to imitate sounds and noises of nature. This imitation occurred through processes like onomatopoeia (e.g., ras, bang, wow). Awareness arose, linking linguistic expressions to phenomena and events based on sound resemblance. Gradually, sound expressions coordinated with sensations and perceptions. This link between linguistic expression and the represented phenomenon became arbitrary and conventional, marking the beginning of human language capable of representing the whole experience.

The Instrumentalist Theory argues that language originated from complex productive activities developed by hominids. Coordination was necessary during work, involving multiple individuals, concentrating effort (e.g., lifting a stone), or organizing tasks (e.g., hunting or extinguishing a fire). A typical example is coordinating actions by counting 'one, two, three'. Without such resources, managing complex tasks, like extracting a mammoth from a trap, would be impossible. This theory suggests no transition from natural to conventional signs; the symbol appears directly within collaborative activities.