COMD 2050 : COMD TEST 1 STUDY QUESTIONS
Document Summary
What is the basic idea behind the bow-wow theory of language origin: it"s a concept of natural sounds. In this scenario when different objects flew by, making caw-caw or coo-coo sound, the early human tried to imitate the sounds and then use them to refer to those objects even when they weren"t present. Why is it difficult to agree with psammetichus that phrygain must have been the original language: he tried an experiment with two new born babies who were kept in isolation with only goats. After two years the children were reported to have spontaneously uttered, not an egyptian word, but something that was identified as the phyrgian, an older language spoken in part of what is modern turkey. This created a longer cavity called the pharynx, which is above the vocal folds, which acts as a resonator for increased range and clarity of the sounds produced via the larynx and the vocal tract.
