ROS - Origins Lesson

FOXP2 - Origins

Speaking Created Humanity. Writing Created History.

An example of Jiahu script. Pictograms, signs carved on tortoiseshells, were found at the archaeological site of Jiahu in the Yellow River basin on Henan Province, central China, circa 7000-5700 BCE.Perhaps we could have started this course with the topic of the origins of language, however, this subject seems peculiarly associated with the spoken word. Though the ability to speak is shrouded in certain mystery, scientists estimate that our species began using language between 50,000 and 6 million years ago (obviously, this is an inexact science). The origin of language has been the subject of myth, religion, philosophy, and obviously linguistics. Many ideas have emerged, but all tend to agree that our ability to speak separates us from all other animals.

Reading Assignment: "Language Gene is Traced to Emergence of Humans" Article

Researchers using DNA evidence recently postulated that a genetic adaptation for the facility of language created humanity asAn artistic rendering of the forkhead box protein P2, also known as "FOXP2." we exist today. Click here to download the article "Language Gene is Traced to Emergence of Humans" and read it carefully and critically Links to an external site.. 

Reading Assignment: "In Click Languages, an Echo of the Tongues of Ancients" Article

There are more questions than answers when it comes to digging into the very distant past, especially when dealing with an ephemeral topic like language. This next article postulates a surprising possibility for the actual sound of the first human speakers. Click here to download the article "In Click Languages, an Echo of the Tongues of Ancients." Links to an external site. 

What evidence are these researchers relying on? What opinion do you think the writer has of this "discovery"? Does the joke at the end undermine or support the thesis? Both articles are written by the same writer; what is his style?

In this photograph, some of the Hadzabe people of Tanzania communicate with clicking sounds. Reading Assignment: "'Earliest writing' found in China"

The beginning of language will remain ensconced in mystery, but the "history" of writing had been relatively established until recent discoveries. Our earliest evidence for the advent of writing is not quite 9,000 years old. Click here to download the article "'Earliest writing' found in China." Links to an external site.

Compare the evidence in this article to the previously accepted origins of the written word.

Reading Assignment: "Iraq Honours the Word"

Click here to download the article "Iraq Honours the Word." Links to an external site. Note the title of the previous essay. What is the literal connotation? What is the subtext? Think critically about the date of this article.

Writing created history. Speaking created humanity.

Self-Assessment and Practice

Solve the crossword puzzle.

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