The History Of Language
(This is an excerpt from a University Of Metaphysical Sciences course at www.umsonline.org,
please feel free to visit the school website)
The written language first appeared in the caves of our oldest ancestors thousands of years ago, where petroglyphs were painted on the walls of caves and told a tale of the people who were around at that time; their habits, their prey and their spiritual beliefs. It was only a matter of time, before people moved out of the caves and began to document their lives on stone tablets. However, stone was large and awkward. With a growing population and increasingly complex society, first the Phoenicians and then the Egyptians developed a system of writing using recurring symbols. The Phoenicians originated an alphabet that was later developed by the Greeks. The Egyptians soaked reeds and slit them into strips that were laid at right angles and pounded into sheets, called papyrus, that they used as we do paper. “The Middle Kingdom (in Egypt) is known particularly for its advances in literature and the art of writing. Long narratives from this time on have survived to the present...The art of writing reached new heights, and the written language and grammar became standardized.” (The University of Oslo website, The Mummy Dives: Eternal Life In Ancient Egypt at www.uio.no.) The Greek era was the golden era of literature and academic life and saw many great philosophers, playwrights and novelists pen exceptional works that survive to this day. At the same time, Latin, the root of many modern languages took hold in the Roman world.
English is the conglomeration of Latin with Germanic roots. “The roots of English are both humble and exciting. English is a beautiful and unique fusion of the Teutonic and Latin tongues. The initial Teutonic input came from Anglos, Saxons, Jutes and Viking invaders. Then came 1066 A.D. with the Norman-French invasion and their vast vocabulary of Latin-based words.” (Alec Gill, Evolution Of The English Language at www.hal.oc.ok.) The vernacular layered was eventually battered into shape by works like Beowulf in Old English and Shakespeare in Middle English. “During the Old and Middle English periods, the linguistic rules of gender, inflection and logic were broken and abandoned.” (Gill, Evolution Of The English Language, www.hal.oc.ok.) What we speak and write today is a crazy, mixed-up, unruly stew of language. With the evolution of English, the rules and constructs have changed.
The most modern example of this change is the use of voice activated computer writing programs, Via Voice for Macs and Dragon Naturally Speaking for PCs, as well as other similar programs. One no longer has to sit at a desk and type a paper. One can simply dictate into a computer and the words will be typed into the document for you. It will be interesting to see how this change effects the written word of the future.