If you put babies together without anyone teaching them to speak, will a new language emerge?

Human language is truly a miracle. There are many different languages ​​in the world, such as Chinese, English, German, Arabic, and many others. These languages ​​have been passed down through generations and spread far and wide. Among them, Chinese is the language with the largest number of speakers, while English is the most widely used language, and both have shown stability over time. It is through language that communication between people has real meaning.

When babies are born, they cannot speak. The only way to express their feelings is by crying: when they are hungry and want milk, they cry; when they want to go to the toilet, they also cry. Normally, it takes about a year for a child to go from not being able to speak to the time when they start babbling their first words. During this period, parents need to take good care and observe carefully to understand their child's true intentions through their expressions and actions. So, how do children learn to speak?

1. Regular exposure to adult communication environments

In fact, children learn to speak initially as an unconscious process, but as a natural absorption . When children lie in bed or are held by their parents, their ears listen to the conversations of adults around them. Over time, children begin to imitate and pronounce a few simple words. Some adults even talk slowly or patiently teach children word by word, which is also very effective.

Children learning to speak is initially an unconscious process. (Illustration photo).

2. Learning through external stimuli

Nowadays, educational resources are increasingly abundant. Many young parents, although lacking experience in raising children, always want their children not to be disadvantaged. Therefore, from the moment their children are born, they buy a lot of picture books and attend early education classes. When they look at these educational materials with their children, the images and sounds in the books will stimulate the child's brain, thereby helping the child learn the words in them.

Experiment 'New Language of Babies'

The above methods are widely used and very effective. However, an interesting question arises: If we put non-verbal infants in the same isolated environment, without contact with the outside world and without teaching them to speak, will they create a new language? This is a bold idea, and modern scientists are always interested in researching this problem, but so far there is no answer.

In fact, not only in modern times but also in ancient times, people have conducted such experiments.  A typical example is the 'New Baby Language Experiment' conducted by Pharaoh Psamtik I of Egypt during the 26th Dynasty.  He believed that the first language of mankind originated in Egypt, but when he heard the opinion that the oldest civilization was not Egyptian, he was extremely angry.

Pharaoh's Experiment Contents

The pharaoh gathered a dozen newborn babies and placed them in an isolated room. The babies were given caretakers, who were forbidden from communicating with them, even using body language or gestures. They were only given basic nutritional needs for normal development.

Within a year or two, when other children of the same age were already talking and walking, the children in the experiment could only babble. Clearly, the experiment had failed. Not a single child had developed language on his own. Pharaoh was very disappointed. Similar experiments were repeated at later times, but they were never successful. On the contrary, they had serious consequences: the children involved missed the golden period for learning to speak, and some even had lower-than-average intellectual development.

Lessons learned from the experiment

Many people have criticized this experiment, saying that it is inhumane, using children to satisfy baseless ideas, and causing great harm to children. Learning a language requires a suitable environment. For example, if we grow up in a Chinese-speaking environment, we will learn Chinese naturally, but no matter how hard we try to learn a foreign language, it is very difficult to reach native level. On the contrary, if we live abroad for a few years, our foreign language skills will improve rapidly.

Therefore , the 'New Baby Language' experiment has no scientific basis . Children cannot naturally learn to speak without patient teaching and repetition from their parents. Parents play a key role in shaping their children's language abilities and overall development.