Human language derives from the song of apes and birds

Recently, MIT scientists have published a new study on the evolution of human language. Accordingly, human language represents the blending of two different communication systems similar to the sounds of monkeys and birds' songs. Specifically, human language content is derived from the cry of the monkey, while the grammar system can form the expressive character of bird songs. The study was published recently in the Journal of Frontiers in Psychology.

From Shakespearean's Romeo & Juliet to the immortal Kieu story of the great poet Nguyen Du, many people are passionate about the language of extremely rich, complex and miraculous people. The evolution of language is the subject of research that is also neglected for scientists. And with this research, scientists may have solved part of the problem by discovering the origin and nature of language.

Shigeru Miyagawa, an MIT linguist, said: "One of the biggest mysteries of human evolution is the evolution of language . It seems that language has come from nothingness for 10,000 years. This is the most special ability of humans without any other animal possessed, however, the human language is not natural, there is a perfect explanation based on the doctrine. Darwin's ".

Miyagawa and his colleagues at MIT have come up with a "combined hypothesis" that explains why human language can evolve dramatically compared to the rest of the Earth. Unlike all other animals, human language can be used to express the infinite amount of information according to human communication.

The origin of the language

Shigeru Miyagawa, a linguist at MIT, conducted unified theory research that explains the origin of human language.

Previously, Noam Chomsky linguist at MIT proposed that there was only one rule to create a language structure called "Merge" . Accordingly, the language is created by combining 2 components into a unified body. The unified hypothesis indicates that the animal world consists of two types of communication systems: meaning and vocabulary. Based on this hypothesis, human language represents the combination of both.

The significance system is found in songbirds and corresponds to the grammatical system in human language. Male birds sing to attract mates or to protect their territory. However, researchers say their "songs" have no specific meaning in the real world.

The vocabulary system is again found in monkeys and corresponds to the words in human language. For example, white forehead monkeys all use a single sound to alert or give dangerous warnings to their fellow humans. These cries contain the meaning of "having hawks", "having snakes" or "having newspapers".

According to the researchers, we can encounter one of the two systems in any species in the animal world. However, only human beings are able to combine these two systems into one unity, which is the language of human beings. If separated, each system can only transmit a limited amount of information. But if combined, that set will generate the infinite amount of information that the human language system can convey.

"But how do these two systems work together? It's really a big question." Miyagawa said. However, some primates outside humans are also capable of combining the two systems in their latent form. Typically, the silver-headed gibbons have the ability to create long, complex songs to protect the territory, communicate with potential partners or members of the herd.

Researchers believe that the ability to express linguistic meaning exists in some other animals, but in a hidden form. According to Miyagawa, this is a genetic trait that adapts the evolution process, but does not appear outside. Therefore, scientists have done research on a number of expressive mammals to determine how humans can combine the grammar and semantic systems together. .

Opinions surrounding the hypothesis - The big question is still abandoned .

The consolidation hypothesis of researchers at MIT has received mixed opinions by other industry experts.

Tecumseh Fitch, a cognitive biologist at the University of Vienna, said: "This is an interesting and appropriate hypothesis that fits most of what we know about animal information systems. This argument has yet to highlight the extraordinary nature of human language ". However, Fitch always hopes that scientists will propose methods to verify the hypothesis.

In fact, the author of the hypothesis Miyagawa admitted that finding specific evidence for the event that happened in the past is a challenging job. However, it is feasible if we verify by comparing the communication systems of many other primates and combining it with the analysis of modern genetic genes.

In addition, Fitch also disagreed with another argument in the hypothesis. He did not approve of comparing the songs of gibbons with the song of birds because the song is a behavioral behavior of birds and the gibbons also completely do not learn songs from their kind. However, Miyagawa pointed out that the primate possessing the nervous system can control the larynx and their vocals are similar to humans.

Another scholar has expressed disagreement with the unified theory of researchers at MIT. Jim Hurford, emeritus professor of language evolution at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland, said: "The formation of human language is too simple. It is made in a very random way. As if oxygen were accidentally combined with hydrogen to form water, the language is almost a part of social characteristics and is a pre-adaptive mental process of monkeys that appeared several million years before humans Show ".

Responding to Professor Hurford's opinion, Miyagawa said: "The transformation of organisms in evolution is usually gradual but sometimes can be very rapid. This has been confirmed based on research. "Genetic data specifies a number of characteristics that can help people evolve differently than other species." Typically, milk digestibility as an adult has been developed 10,000 years ago.

Another objection came from William Croft, a linguist at the University of New Mexico: "The Chomskyan doctrine is still controversial and there are many other theories about language formation. This is one. The problem is closely related to social characteristics and cognitive abilities based on human language ".

The unified hypothesis is based mainly on linguistic research but basically, language arises from biological processes. Miyagawa stated that he would continue to study the brain's activity in forming the meaning and vocabulary of language to clarify his doctrine from a broader perspective. Finally, human language origin is still a big question and still has to wait for many studies to be done in the future to give a proper explanation for the problem.