At Its Beginnings, Only a Handful of People Spoke This Language. It’s the Origin of Every Word You Say.
Laura Spinneyshare.google
At Its Beginnings, Only a Handful of People Spoke This Language. It’s the Origin of Every Word You Say.
As the linguist Edward Sapir observed, “The complete vocabulary of a language may indeed be looked upon as a complex inventory of all the ideas, interests, and occupations that take up the attention of the community.”
David W. Anthony • The Horse, the Wheel, and Language: How Bronze-Age Riders from the Eurasian Steppes Shaped the Modern World
The creation of language was the first singularity for humans. It changed everything. Life after language was unimaginable to those on the far side before it.
Kevin Kelly • What Technology Wants
Where do words come from? They come from the dead. We inherit them. Borrow them. Use them for a time to bring the dead to life.”
Ruth Ozeki • A Tale for the Time Being: A Novel (ALA Notable Books for Adults)
“Early linguists, as well as the Kabbalists, believed in a fictional language called the tongue of Eden, the language of Adam. It enabled all men to understand each other, to communicate without misunderstanding. It was the language of the Logos, the moment when God created the world by speaking a word. In the tongue of Eden, naming a thing was the
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