Memory and Imagination, Evolution of Language
HUMAN MEMORY AND IMAGINATION
A KEY TO LANGUAGE EVOLUTION
Qasim Dad
Department of English Language and Literature
University of Sargodha qasimdad72@gmail.com Daniyal Hassan
Department of English Language and Literature
University of Sargodha daniyalhassan2003@yahoo.com INTRODUCTION
One of the mysteries is human existence. From where we came and to where shall we go? These are the questions always faced by mankind in every phase of its consciousness. Different people of different ages have tried to give answers of these questions that are in the form of different theories. Revealed books like Holy Quran and Bible give a simple, mythical and less confusing answer to the question of human existence. For centuries, mankind has been believing in the myth of creation of Adam and Eve till 19th century when Charles Darwin, in his book "Origin of Species," proposed a new theory of Evolution. According to his theory, humans evolved from apes rather than exclusively created by the God. Archeological evidences also support this theory of evolution. But this theory of evolution answers only structural changes in human brain and body. One of the remarkable characteristics of humans is the use of language for communication. Humans are unique in this quality of them. No other animal has language as a tool for communication and expression as humans do. Now, the problem with evolutionary theory is that it says that humans are descendants of apes but apes do not have a language like humans. If apes do not have a language, it means that language is also evolved in humans but through which process, evolutionary theory is unable to explain it. Several theories were proposed to tackle the question of evolution of language in humans. Scientists, philosophers and linguists tried in their own way to solve the riddle of language evolution. Most of theories proposed by these people are simply based on conjectures without any scientific or logical
A KEY TO LANGUAGE EVOLUTION
Qasim Dad
Department of English Language and Literature
University of Sargodha qasimdad72@gmail.com Daniyal Hassan
Department of English Language and Literature
University of Sargodha daniyalhassan2003@yahoo.com INTRODUCTION
One of the mysteries is human existence. From where we came and to where shall we go? These are the questions always faced by mankind in every phase of its consciousness. Different people of different ages have tried to give answers of these questions that are in the form of different theories. Revealed books like Holy Quran and Bible give a simple, mythical and less confusing answer to the question of human existence. For centuries, mankind has been believing in the myth of creation of Adam and Eve till 19th century when Charles Darwin, in his book "Origin of Species," proposed a new theory of Evolution. According to his theory, humans evolved from apes rather than exclusively created by the God. Archeological evidences also support this theory of evolution. But this theory of evolution answers only structural changes in human brain and body. One of the remarkable characteristics of humans is the use of language for communication. Humans are unique in this quality of them. No other animal has language as a tool for communication and expression as humans do. Now, the problem with evolutionary theory is that it says that humans are descendants of apes but apes do not have a language like humans. If apes do not have a language, it means that language is also evolved in humans but through which process, evolutionary theory is unable to explain it. Several theories were proposed to tackle the question of evolution of language in humans. Scientists, philosophers and linguists tried in their own way to solve the riddle of language evolution. Most of theories proposed by these people are simply based on conjectures without any scientific or logical
References: Trask, R.L., Key Concepts in Language and Linguistics, Routledge, New York, 1999. Blackmore, S.J., The Meme Machine, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1999. . Oller, J.W.Jr, Language and genes: can they be built up through random change and natural selection? Psychology and Theology, 2002. Englefield, F.R.H., language: its Origin and its Relation to Thought,Wells, G.A and Oppenheimer, D.R.(Eds), Scribner, New York, 1977. Michelle French, The origins of language: an investigation of various theories, 2004.