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The Dawn of Language *
Author(s) -
Brooks Nelson
Publication year - 1975
Publication title -
foreign language annals
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.258
H-Index - 49
eISSN - 1944-9720
pISSN - 0015-718X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1944-9720.1975.tb01516.x
Subject(s) - intellect , prehistory , phenomenon , anthropology , history , linguistics , spoken language , point (geometry) , race (biology) , sociology , philosophy , epistemology , archaeology , gender studies , geometry , mathematics
ABSTRACT Current studies in anthropology, archeology, prehistory, and biology point to the conclusion that man, language, and culture all began at the same time, some two million years ago, in southeast Africa. The dawn of language for the race is recapitulated for the individual as each child, in the first two years of life, seizes upon ihe knack of putting sounds together in a systematic way that permits him to symbolize, in communicable form, the segments of reality around and within him. The universal occurence of this remarkable phenomenon strongly suggests that only a genetic factor can account for the cradle learning of spoken speech. But the dawn of language as the all‐embracing prerequisite of man's status as man has not yet come to the academic world. And it will not come until language is established as a discipline in its own right, a discipline called, quite simply, ‘Language,’ that will support, envigorate, and enlighten all areas of study having to do with the intellect of man.