©iStockphoto.com/Maica
UP NEXT
How Gossip Works
How Braille Works
ADS BY GOOGLE
6 Reasons God Exists
No Arm-Twisting. Straightforward. Compelling Evidences. You Decide. everystudent.com New Muslims eLearning
Learn for free your new faith in an easy and systematic way. newmuslims.com Free IT Training
Improve Your Computer Skills, Sign Up Now For Free Online Courses free-online-training-courses.com According to a biblical account found in the book of Genesis, people once spoke the same language. Then, because those people banded together to build a tower in Babylon that glorified their own achievements, rather than those of their deity, God punished them. He ensured that mankind spoke different languages so that they'd never be able to work together to dishonor God again.
Was there once just a single language that all people could understand? Linguists don't know; there's just not enough information about the origins of language, and there are only theories about how our early ancestors formed their first words and sentences. Did early people imitate sounds they heard in the environment? Did they babble until certain sounds took on meaning? We'll probably never know, though linguists still study babies' brains to determine if language or grammar comes hardwired in our heads.
One prominent theory about the development of the first languages relates to tools and resources. Teaching another person how to use tools requires a certain, agreed-upon vocabulary, as does the process of sharing and