Why do countries have different languages?

People have long asked this question and tried to answer why people speak many different languages.

You probably know the legend of Babel Tower . In the Bible, the story of the Tower of Babel tells us that in the beginning humans spoke only one language, but God was angry when humans deliberately built a tower to try to climb to heaven and God did not want it to be. So God makes people speak different languages ​​and scatters them everywhere on Earth.

There are many explanations for why there are many languages, and each way is somewhat correct.

Absaroka indigenous people in the United States have a different story that an old prairie wolf made humans. Initially, these people spoke the same language, but later a young wolf told the old wolf that mankind is very good at creating conflicts, wars and it persuades the old wolf to make people talk a lot. different languages ​​so that people misunderstand each other and that way they will fight and show their talents.

There is another Jawoyn story in Northern Australia. It is believed that wherever the Nabilil crocodile goes, name the land and create a language of its own.

And there are many other similar stories around the world.

More recently, linguists have been trying to answer this question. In fact, we may never know the origin of language, but we know quite well the differences between languages ​​and how they change. Interestingly, there's also something a bit true in the fairy tales, legends about the castles, wolves and crocodiles mentioned above.

The story of the tower: 3 magic elements

In the story of Babel Tower, God makes people go around the world. In fact, from the archaeological excavation holes we know that humans migrated thousands of years ago to different lands.

So, what you need to create different languages ​​are three wonderful components: time, distance and language transformation processes. So when people who speak the same language part ways and go to different places, over time that language can become two or more other languages.

Take Latin as an example. As Latin-speakers migrated across Europe, their languages ​​gradually became French, Spanish, Italian and Portuguese, making the original Latin language not a dead language. into many languages ​​today.

English is another example. In the 15th century, Germanic tribes (German) including Angles, Saxons and Jutes left their homeland in Europe to invade England. The G dialects they brought have evolved into ancient English.

Coyote element

The story of the Absaroka prairie wolf talks about the language differences that lead people who speak different languages ​​to misunderstand or disagree with each other. Voices often go hand in hand with each person's identity. Along with going to different regions, identity is something that can change a language or become a new language.

For example, in a village in Papua New Guinea, everyone speaks the same language as Selepet and people from nearby villages also speak this language. However, the people in that village decided to change the way they said 'no'. In this way, their 'no' becomes 'bunge' and is no longer as standard as the Selepet language as 'beer' and people can identify this villager when they say the word 'bunge'.

Take a look at your local area and the surrounding provinces. The element of a prairie wolf is one of the motivations for people in each region to promote their identity through language.

So any language then splits into many other languages ​​like the case of Latin? Probably not. The problem is that we are not living today as separate people as in the past. We talk to each other often, face to face, over the phone, computer and many other ways to keep us close.

Crocodile element: new words for new places and new experiences

The story of the Nabilil crocodile talks about the evolution of language in a close relationship with the surrounding environment and the naming of newly arrived lands, newly encountered animals and new experiences.

We can see this clearly through the British migration to Australia. When the British came to Australia, English existed for more than 800 years. However, the English-speaking settlers did not then have the words to talk about Australia. They borrow the words of native Australians (such as: kangaroo, wombat) or create new meanings for old words (like: magpie, possum), both of which are derived to be used to name animals Available in Europe and America.

Or as in Vietnamese, we have a lot of French loan words, especially to refer to the parts of bicycles and cars because these vehicles are brought into Vietnam by the French, such as: pê knit - pedale, handlebars - guidon, steering wheel - volant, car - auto, etc. Another example of word borrowing between languages ​​is the word 'phong phong' in Vietnamese is equivalent to 'typhoon' in Vietnamese. English and 'taifeng' in Chinese.

Like humans, language is always evolving and that's why we have so many languages , and one way to avoid the curse of a prairie wolf, is to learn some things to say. language, not just my native language.

1. What language will the world use in 2115?
2. The "new world" scenario if humans speak the same language