Re: CHAT: proto-language

Joshua Shinavier scripsit:

> Do linguists generally think
> that language emerged in one place (e.g. if the first Homo sapiens in Africa
> had a language) and then spread, or evolved independently in several different
> places/times?
I think the majority view is that language originated only once,
but that this event is not now recoverable, as the various language
phyla (super-families) have differentiated so much as to make
reconstructing their original relationships impossible.

--
John Cowan      http://www.ccil.org/~cowan              cowan@ccil.org
        You tollerday donsk?  N.  You tolkatiff scowegian?  Nn.
        You spigotty anglease?  Nnn.  You phonio saxo?  Nnnn.
                Clear all so!  'Tis a Jute.... (Finnegans Wake 16.5)