So in a world with just 2 languages, for example, English and Spanish, and assuming there is only one person speaking each language and the other person doesn’t know how to speak your language, how did people at the beginning of civilization learn and teach a language since no one knows the other language?
I think you can learn the vocabulary by pointing to an object and saying the word but what about the grammar and special rules? I would assume this is because the ancient languages are simple, right?
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That’s not how language evolves. It doesn’t spring into anyone’s mind full-fledged. It’s a matter of a primitive hominid pointing at water and saying “Sa”. Its neighbors adopt the sound as representing water, just as they’ve adopted the sound “OOOH” meaning “predator in the area”. Soon, someone says “Bo Sa” and leads the others to water….”I’ve found water.” This is extremely valuable and leads to many, many other utterances,
But nearby tribes don’t inherit the whole game. They get parts of it, and the value in explicit vocal communications is undeniable, and they create their own words. “Sa” eventually becomes “water.” “Bo” eventually becomes “I did”.
Other languages develop, as the human species develops. Pretty soon we’re speaking Latin, and can’t understand someone speaking ancient Greek.
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