Word... How did they begin with 'words'?
By mr_pearl
@mr_pearl (5018)
India
September 26, 2012 6:11am CST
Hello.. My dear myLotters... Since childhood I have asked many questions to myself. Never found answers to those... Sometimes, I dared and asked my parents or teachers (whoever was less angry with me at that time). I have been made to feel ashamed & irrational for coming up with questions 'which had obvious answers'. At one point, I was convinced that I'm totally deranged for having such questions in my mind...
One question was 'words'.. Who decided the words? I used to imagine that before thousands of years, our ancestors sat together and created languages (can we say 'they langui-fied the human race'?).. Then they appointed commitees for each of the languages; to decide 'words'... 
.. I'd spend hours of empty time imaginning things... And fill my empty time... And then would come the quaking question... What language did they speak, before creating languages???
For me, words don't just have a meaning.. I mean, they've meaning, but they have sounds too... Take the word 'far'.. When it is used your eyes (or brain) imagines a distance on its own.. Or 'ugly'.. English is not my mother tounge and yet, when I heard this word 'ugly', I felt it.. I did not get the exact meaning, but i felt it was meant for something real ugly... There are many words like that...
So what do you think fellows? How did the words were chosen?? Who did it??? Please share...
.. I'd spend hours of empty time imaginning things... And fill my empty time... And then would come the quaking question... What language did they speak, before creating languages???
For me, words don't just have a meaning.. I mean, they've meaning, but they have sounds too... Take the word 'far'.. When it is used your eyes (or brain) imagines a distance on its own.. Or 'ugly'.. English is not my mother tounge and yet, when I heard this word 'ugly', I felt it.. I did not get the exact meaning, but i felt it was meant for something real ugly... There are many words like that...
So what do you think fellows? How did the words were chosen?? Who did it??? Please share...2 people like this
6 responses
@laydee (12798)
• Philippines
27 Sep 12
First and foremost, you're not alone with that type of a mind - inquisitive. There are those who would just remain blank but you're like those who always seek answers - loves research and loves to know more. I am like you. My father keeps on telling relatives and friends about the instance when from our home to the hospital (we were going to the hospital apparently then) I had nothing else to do but ask him tons of questions - I was 5 then.
I think that type of mind is good. But yeah, I guess it's safer if you try to check first if the person you're about to ask is in a good mood. Hahaha..
As for the words. I recall some geographic finds about men (ancient times) were trying to relate through pictures and drawings then soon in some forms of words. I guess like a "gesture" they just agreed to have the same understanding for the particular word(s). Soon, someone dared to make a dictionary out of it. hehehe.. That's my cent, not including the possible research I am about to do, but since I don't have the luxury of time, can't. But there's my take on it.
Have a great mylot experience ahead!
@mr_pearl (5018)
• India
29 Sep 12
Hi Laydee, it is pleasure to talk to someone who's like me... Thanks a lot...
I still support the evolution theory.. Like all other animals and birds, humans used sounds and gestures in those earlier wild days... We evolved and improved, as our brains went on improving... And thats how words came into place... A friend of ours, explains in the same thread that most of the earlier words were through the sound... Something was given a name, just based on the sound it made... E.g. chop for an axe....
It is really good to be inquisitive....
@gwydion (8)
•
26 Sep 12
You can actually study words and languages to see how they all inter-relate and which words came first. Words and the origins of language have always fascinated me! Take the number nine for example, in most European languages the number nine has the same root as 'new', so nine is the new number.
Means that for thousands of years people only counted up to eight!
Current theory is that the first words came from the sounds that things made. Moo for cow, chop for axe etc (this is onomatopeia and it's something we still use). Once you have basic descriptions for things based on sounds you can combine these sounds to make more complicated words or to describe things that do not have sounds. And from there language develops.
@mr_pearl (5018)
• India
29 Sep 12
Hi... :-).. Thanks a lot... Your post covers many points... And the explanation is probable too... I did not know about the 'nine'.. So they counted only from 0 to 8... That must have been funny... So what came after 8? And what was the entity 9 known as? I mean, there must have been something that represented number Nine.. Or did they simply jump to 10 after 8? This can be an interesting research my friend... Since when did they add 9 to the numbers? Please let me know...
@sukumar794 (5040)
• Thiruvananthapuram, India
27 Sep 12
Words form part of our language corpus. They are in itself assisting communication. How could anyone designate an object without assigning it a proper word.So words are vehicles of expression. It a great language tool.
@jenny1015 (13366)
• Philippines
27 Sep 12
So simple — and yet this little thought experiment of mine could explain how human speech began and how learning the simple little “trick” of pointing and calling attention to objects could have started our ancestors down the evolutionary path to processing ever more complex language and passing on to others the growing universe of ideas it made possible. That evolutionary road would have included the development of larger and more complex brains, and of a tongue and palate capable of making more distinctive sounds to create and to communicate more rapidly an expanding vocabulary of words for things, concepts, colors, places, sounds, emotions, and ideas.
@WakeUpKitty (8694)
• Netherlands
26 Sep 12
Who did depends on who was first.
I think it's natural to produce sounds. Animals do the same. A baby is producing sounds, a mother is responding to them. Some sounds (words now) are world wide (nearly) the same. I guess the rest is just about copying.. the birds of the same feather copy the same kind of noises/words.
@mr_pearl (5018)
• India
29 Sep 12
Hi... Thanks for sharing... Your theory is probable... Even today we see the animals communicate by sounds and gestures... I trust now that in our primitive stage, we too used sounds & gestures to communicate.. With our extra-ordinarily developed brain we came up with words... And then literature...
@thelopautheory (27)
• Philippines
27 Sep 12
man, you do have a really really imaginative mind. i like the way you see and think about things. people are seldom like that. well, where are these words really came from? maybe, ancient people have created sounds particularly associated with certain things like animals, parts of the body and other household words. as time went by, some words have been just created out of other people's critical mind. like nisaac newton who created the word "centrifugal" and shakespere who coined the word "excellent." Other words have also been adopted due to some usage errors of the known words. other words were created because of the addition of prefixes and suffixes to it or subtraction of other parts, say a letter or two. so you see man, it would a lot and lots of words to explain these elaborately. and i'm sorry if this wont appear really satisfying you. but you know what, you got me thinking here.
