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<p>Click here to read this story online:<br>
<a href="http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0719/p13s01-stgn.html">http://www.csmonito<wbr>r.com/2007/<wbr>0719/p13s01-<wbr>stgn.html</a><br>
<br>
Headline: Linguists seek a time when we spoke as one<br>
Byline: Moises Velasquez-Manoff Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor<br>
Date: 07/19/2007<br>
<br>
Around 50,000 years ago, something happened to our ancestors in<br>
Africa. Anatomically modern humans, who had existed for at least<br>
150,000 years prior, suddenly began behaving differently. Until then,<br>
their conduct scarcely differed from that of their hominid cousins,<br>
the Neanderthals. Both buried their dead; both used stone tools; and<br>
as social apes, both had some form of communication, which some think<br>
was gestural.<br>
<br>
But then, "almost overnight, everything changes very rapidly," says<br>
Merritt Ruhlen, a lecturer in the Anthropological Sciences Department<br>
at Stanford University in Palo Alto, Calif. Humans began making much<br>
better stone tools. They started burying their dead with<br>
accouterments that suggested religion. And perhaps most telling, Homo<br>
sapiens, the "wise" apes, began creating art.<br>
<br>
"People started having imagination at this time much more than they<br>
had earlier," says Dr. Ruhlen.<br>
<br>
Many scientists think that fully modern human language enabled this<br>
"great leap forward." Language enabled abstract thought, the deciding<br>
factor in archaic humans becoming - well, us. And because scientists<br>
surmise that language arose only once, they believe that before<br>
leaving Africa to colonize the world, all humankind spoke one<br>
language. Linguists have dubbed it "proto-world" or "proto-sapiens.<wbr>"<br>
<br>
A multidisciplinary team of scientists at the Santa Fe Institute in<br>
New Mexico is working toward reconstructing that mother of all<br>
languages. Headed by Nobel Laureate physicist Murray Gell-Mann, the<br>
international Evolution of Human Languages (EHL) project is<br>
developing a freely accessible etymological database of the world's<br>
languages (<a href="http://ehl.santafe.edu/intro1.htm">http://ehl.santafe.<wbr>edu/intro1.<wbr>htm</a>). Where possible, EHL<br>
linguists are attempting to reconstruct - and then compare - ancestor<br>
languages, moving ever closer to the first human language. Viewed by<br>
many linguists as a fringe movement, the project has attracted much<br>
criticism. Many linguists say that historical languages cannot be<br>
studied beyond an 8,000-year threshold; they change too much, they<br>
say. Some take issue with the project's methods: A few words shared<br>
among reconstructed languages doesn't prove a familial relationship,<br>
they insist, especially far back in time.<br>
<br>
Languages change constantly. Speakers invent or borrow words to suit<br>
their needs. But for reasons not completely understood, some<br>
languages change more than others. Italian, for example, has remained<br>
much closer to ancestral Latin than French. Lithuanian has many words<br>
that almost exactly match Sanskrit, which was spoken 3,500 years ago.<br>
And some language "families" like Afroasiatic retain words in common<br>
even after more than 10,000 years of divergent evolution.<br>
<br>
"That time limit is totally wrong," says John Bengtson, vice<br>
president of the Association for the Study of Language in Prehistory<br>
in Cambridge, Mass. "Languages that have been separated 8,000 years<br>
get down to a low percentage of common words. However, that low<br>
percentage seems to be very stable."<br>
<br>
And there begins EHL's approach. Within languages, linguists think<br>
that because certain words - including the pronoun "we" and the<br>
number "one" - form the basis of a functional language, they are much<br>
less likely to change or be lost. EHL linguists begin by comparing<br>
this "basic lexicon." They include "words that are thoroughly<br>
essential and must have been in human language before significant<br>
cultural advances were made," writes EHL team member George<br>
Starostin, a linguist at the Russian State University for the<br>
Humanities in Moscow, in an e-mail.<br>
<br>
Using this method, EHL has grouped all the world's languages into 12<br>
linguistic superfamilies. They've tentatively grouped four of these<br>
superfamilies, which include languages of Eurasia, North Africa, and<br>
some Pacific islands (and maybe languages of the Americas as well)<br>
into one super-superfamily dubbed "Borean." An ancestor to a large<br>
share of today's languages, Borean was spoken some 16,000 years ago<br>
when glaciers covered much of Europe and North America, they say.<br>
<br>
EHL linguists use several methods. One - the most controversial, but<br>
not the most widely used, says Starostin - involves matching words<br>
and meanings across languages. For example, Ruhlen and Bengtson have<br>
noticed that a word roughly corresponding to "water," which they<br>
render in proto-sapiens as "AQWA," appears in many languages. In<br>
Latin it's "aqua"; in Japanese, "aka" means "bilge water"; in<br>
Chechen, meanwhile, "aq" means "to suck"; in an African Kung dialect,<br>
"kau" means "to rain"; and in Central American Yucatec, "uk" means<br>
"to be thirsty."<br>
<br>
But critics look at etymologies like these and see only problems.<br>
They're too loose with meanings and sounds, they say. And too many<br>
alternate explanations exist: Maybe the word was borrowed from one<br>
language and spread to the others. Perhaps it's onomatopoetic, a word<br>
that sounds like what it is. ("Cock-a-doodle-<wbr>doo" is an onomatopoetic<br>
word that appears in similar form in many languages, but that doesn't<br>
prove relation.) Finally, the shorter the word - in some of the<br>
languages, just one syllable rather than two or three - the greater<br>
the possibility of a chance match.<br>
<br>
"You've presented this list of words, but it looks like you can<br>
explain these lists in several different ways," says Lyle Campbell, a<br>
professor of linguistics at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City.<br>
"Their data is really easy to challenge, and it's really easy to find<br>
words that are similar to one another across languages."<br>
<br>
EHL linguists argue that they're only doing exactly what Sir William<br>
Jones, who first postulated a common ancestor for classical Greek,<br>
Latin, and Sanskrit, did in the 18th century. (Indo-European, the<br>
eventual result of Jones's initial observations, is perhaps the most<br>
widely accepted language family.) Historical linguistics begins by<br>
observing similarities that occur more frequently than dictated by<br>
chance, they say - and they're just starting.<br>
<br>
The comparison to Jones also underscores another argument central to<br>
EHL's endeavor. The further one moves back in time, the more related<br>
languages should resemble one another, they believe. "It is more<br>
risky because you're comparing two or more hypotheticals to arrive at<br>
an even more hypothetical construction,<wbr>" says Mr. Bengtson, "but we<br>
think it's still a valid thing to try to do."<br>
<br>
Human genetic evidence appears to support EHL's basic assumptions.<br>
The human genome indicates that all humanity traces its ancestry to<br>
as few as 1,000 individuals who lived between 50,000 and 60,000 years<br>
ago. This small founding population may explain how the capacity for<br>
language spread so quickly. "Bottlenecks play a very important part<br>
in human evolution," says Ruhlen. "This was the first major<br>
bottleneck."<br>
<br>
Genetics also suggests two separate migrations out of Africa. One<br>
followed the south coast of Asia, ending up in Australia at least<br>
45,000 years ago. The other took the land route through the Middle<br>
East into Central Asia, where they went both west into Europe and<br>
east, eventually reaching the Americas.<br>
<br>
Very tentatively, EHL has grouped the world's languages into three<br>
super-superfamilies corresponding to these migrations: those that<br>
correspond with the coastal route, which include Papuan languages;<br>
those that correspond with the land route out of Africa, descendants<br>
of Borean, the best reconstructed; and the "click" languages spoken<br>
by the San, or "Bushmen," of southern Africa. Scientists think that<br>
the San most resemble the first modern humans. Their language, almost<br>
unique in its use of click sounds that perhaps other early languages<br>
lost, may best conserve traces of proto-sapiens.<br>
<br>
Recently, EHL further refined its hypothesis. How could the<br>
16,000-year-<wbr>old Borean have engendered the lion's share of Eurasian,<br>
North African, and American languages? Some 20,000 years ago, at the<br>
peak of the last ice age, the world lost much of its linguistic<br>
diversity, they argue. Advancing glaciers pushed humanity south,<br>
mashing linguistic groups together. As in later periods of human<br>
history - like now - only a few languages emerged from that mixing.<br>
Borean, they say, was one of them.<br>
<br>
<br>
(c) Copyright 2007 The Christian Science Monitor. All rights reserved.<br>
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