Basically what i am asking is how were people suddenly able to understand each other and form words for things? Also how did they then take those words and create letters and writing in a way that other people could understand?
Another question I have is when did languages actually develop and how do we even know?
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Language is just sounds that we associate with particular meanings. So let’s go back to a time just before language. Our group of prehistoric humans are thirsty, and need water. One of them finds a creek, and wants to communicate that to the rest of the group. They have the ability to make complex sounds, so our human imitates the sound of flowing water. Let’s say further that, over time, *every* person in our group starts making that sound whenever they find water, and only water. We now effectively have a word for water, as our group has associated that sound with the idea of water. Repeat this process over and over again, adding new words and modifying old ones, and you get a spoken language.
As for writing, it worked pretty much the same way. Pictographs that were associated with specific objects, and then over time became associated with sounds. Simultaneously, these pictographs were modified, simplified, or elaborated on to become one of the various writing systems we have today.
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