Dr. Vijai S Shankar MD.PhD. Published on www.acadun.com The Netherlands 6th June 2013
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What does man speak?
Man speaks a language, and this is evident for the person who speaks that language. But what is a language to a person who does not speak that language? It is merely sound without meaning. For example, a foreign language is sound to a person who does not speak that language. It is obvious, therefore, that a language is sound which conveys meaning.
So, what could a language have been at its origin? Obviously, it must have been just sounds without meaning. Sound evolved mysteriously as words with meaning, and later as a specific language. Since it is impossible to determine the identity of the person who spoke the first word with meaning, it is equally impossible to credit a person for any ancient or modern language. There are theories about the origins of languages. But definitive proof for the origins of ancient and present-day languages is still lacking.
Many languages have evolved within man since ancient times, and it should be no surprise if more do evolve in centuries to come. Ancient languages, such as Sanskrit, Greek and Latin have been replaced by present-day languages as a process in life. The ongoing process will replace present-day languages, with evolved languages in the future. When they do occur, present-day languages will become ancient and will be found in the libraries of the future. They will, however, be spoken by a minority, until they are eventually replaced by languages of the future.
In the case of languages yet to come, the identity of the person responsible for them can be known, as records exist these days. For example, James Doohan is the identity of the person responsible for the origin of Klingonese language. Klingonese language originated as sounds to depict an alien in the movie Star Trek. It has now evolved as a language, with written script and dictionary to a minority. Everything changes in life and language is no exception.
Every language has evolved globally from the sounds of primitive man. Even to this day, a baby utters sounds first, which eventually evolve as a spoken language. The language or the number of languages that a person can speak depends on intellect. Man cannot determine the intellect he has or should have. If it were possible, every man could be intelligent enough to speak as many languages as there are, but he cannot. Therefore, it is life that makes speaking happen to man.
Language will continue to remain as sound as long as there is life on earth. But what language man will speak in the distant future cannot be known or spoken by the present-day man. It can only be known and spoken by the man in the future.
So what does man speak? Man speaks sound which mysteriously appears as language to the human mind. Speaking is a gift of life to man.
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