Saturday, August 25, 2007
Clues to the origins of language
Female rhesus monkeys speak baby talk according to a recent article in National Geographic. The sounds "don't have a meaning linked to a representation of an item or object, but they may perform a very important social function to bring individuals together."
Possibly as long ago as 80,000 years, very much in human prehistory, the Brahmins in Kerala, near what is now Madurai, apparently passed on chants in a language which cannot be understood today but has survived a very long time and seems earlier than Tamil. It seems to have patterns like those of bird songs.
IMO: If he had known, Julian Jaynes would really have something to think about.
Possibly as long ago as 80,000 years, very much in human prehistory, the Brahmins in Kerala, near what is now Madurai, apparently passed on chants in a language which cannot be understood today but has survived a very long time and seems earlier than Tamil. It seems to have patterns like those of bird songs.
IMO: If he had known, Julian Jaynes would really have something to think about.
# posted by uv : 8:02 PM
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