Theories ON the ORIGIN of

Language
 1. BOW-WOW THEORY

Speech arouse through people imitating the sounds of

environment especially animal calls.
- main evidence is the use of onomatopoeic words
- few of these exist in language and language vary so much
in the way they represent natural sounds
chatter, chug, murmur, zipper, zoom, boom, etc.

2. POO-POOH THEORY

Speech arouse through people making instinctive sounds

caused by anger, pain, and other emotions.
- main evidence would be the universal use of sounds as
interjections.
3. DING-DONG THEORY
Speech arouse because people reacted to the stimuli in the world
around them and spontaneously produced sound (oral gestures)
which in some way reflected or were in harmony with the
environment.
- main evidence would be universal sound of words of a certain
meaning
ex:
mama is supposed to reflect the movement of the lips as the
mouth approaches the breast
4. Ye-He-Ho Theory
Speech arouse because as people worked together their physical
efforts which produced communal rhythmical grunts, which
develop into chants, and thus language.
- main evidence is the universal use of prosodic features
especially of rhythm. This theory is more social and emphasizes
noises that would accompany feeding, fighting, etc.
5. La-La Theory (Sing-Song)
Speech arouse from romantic side of life
sounds associated with love, play, poetic
feeling, perhaps even song.