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A bow-wow theory (or cuckoo theory) is any of the theories by various scholars, including
A bow-wow theory (or cuckoo theory) is any of the theories by various scholars, including Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Jean-Jacques Rousseau (, ; ; 28 June 1712 – 2 July 1778) was a Republic of Geneva, Genevan philosopher (''philosophes, philosophe''), writer, and composer. His political philosophy influenced the progress of the Age of Enlightenment through ...
and Johann Gottfried Herder
Johann Gottfried von Herder ( ; ; 25 August 174418 December 1803) was a Prussian philosopher, theologian, pastor, poet, and literary critic. Herder is associated with the Age of Enlightenment, ''Sturm und Drang'', and Weimar Classicism. He wa ...
, on the speculative origins of human language.
According to bow-wow theories, the first human languages developed from onomatopoeia
Onomatopoeia (or rarely echoism) is a type of word, or the process of creating a word, that phonetics, phonetically imitates, resembles, or suggests the sound that it describes. Common onomatopoeias in English include animal noises such as Oin ...
, that is, imitations of natural sounds. The term "bow-wow theory" was introduced in English-language literature by the German philologist Max Müller
Friedrich Max Müller (; 6 December 1823 – 28 October 1900) was a German-born British comparative philologist and oriental studies, Orientalist. He was one of the founders of the Western academic disciplines of Indology and religious s ...
, who was critical of this idea. Despite its simplicity, this theory highlights the human tendency to mimic natural sounds.
Bow-wow theories have been widely discredited as an explanation for the origin of language. However, some contemporary theories suggest that general imitative abilities may have played an important role in the evolution of language.
In the humorous typology of what he considered to be fanciful theories on the origin of languages, Max Müller contrasted ''bow-wow'' theory with ''pooh-pooh'' theory, which holds that the original language consisted of interjections; and with ''ding-dong'' theory, which posits that humans were originally a kind of improved bell capable of making all sounds.
However, Müller was at one time attracted to the ''ho-hiss'' theory, which held that grunts were also the origin of singing.
See also
*Evolutionary linguistics
Evolutionary linguistics or Darwinian linguistics is a sociobiological approach to the study of language. Evolutionary linguists consider linguistics as a subfield of sociobiology and evolutionary psychology. The approach is also closely linke ...
* Origin of language
The origin of language, its relationship with human evolution, and its consequences have been subjects of study for centuries. Scholars wishing to study the origins of language draw inferences from evidence such as the fossil record, archaeolog ...
References
External links
* {{Wiktionary-inline Evolution of language Theories of language Onomatopoeia Linguistic theories and hypotheses