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Proto-Human language
The Proto-Human language, also known as Proto-Sapiens, Proto-World, or the Urlanguage is the hypothetical direct genetic predecessor of all human languages.
The concept is speculative and not amenable to analysis in historical linguistics. It presupposes a monogenetic origin of language, that is, the derivation of all natural languages from a single origin, presumably at some time in the Middle Paleolithic period. As the predecessor of all extant languages spoken by modern humans (Homo sapiens), Proto-Human as hypothesized would not necessarily be ancestral to any hypothetical Neanderthal language.[citation needed]
The concept has no generally accepted term. Most treatments of the subject do not include a name for the language under consideration (e.g., Bengtson and Ruhlen). The terms Proto-World and Proto-Human are in occasional use. Merritt Ruhlen used the term Proto-Sapiens.[citation needed]
The first serious scientific attempt to establish the reality of monogenesis was that of Alfredo Trombetti, in his book L'unità d'origine del linguaggio (1905). Trombetti estimated that the common ancestor of existing languages had been spoken between 100,000 and 200,000 years ago (not long after the appearance of anatomically modern humans).
Monogenesis was dismissed by many linguists in the late 19th and early 20th centuries when the doctrine of the polygenesis of the human races and their languages was popularized.
The best-known supporter of monogenesis in America in the mid-20th century was Morris Swadesh. He pioneered two important methods for investigating deep relationships between languages, lexicostatistics and glottochronology.
In the second half of the 20th century, Joseph Greenberg produced a series of large-scale classifications of the world's languages. These were and are controversial but widely discussed. Although Greenberg did not produce an explicit argument for monogenesis, all of his classification work was geared toward this end. As he stated: "The ultimate goal is a comprehensive classification of what is very likely a single language family."
Notable American advocates of linguistic monogenesis include Merritt Ruhlen, John Bengtson, and Harold Fleming.[citation needed]
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Proto-Human language
The Proto-Human language, also known as Proto-Sapiens, Proto-World, or the Urlanguage is the hypothetical direct genetic predecessor of all human languages.
The concept is speculative and not amenable to analysis in historical linguistics. It presupposes a monogenetic origin of language, that is, the derivation of all natural languages from a single origin, presumably at some time in the Middle Paleolithic period. As the predecessor of all extant languages spoken by modern humans (Homo sapiens), Proto-Human as hypothesized would not necessarily be ancestral to any hypothetical Neanderthal language.[citation needed]
The concept has no generally accepted term. Most treatments of the subject do not include a name for the language under consideration (e.g., Bengtson and Ruhlen). The terms Proto-World and Proto-Human are in occasional use. Merritt Ruhlen used the term Proto-Sapiens.[citation needed]
The first serious scientific attempt to establish the reality of monogenesis was that of Alfredo Trombetti, in his book L'unità d'origine del linguaggio (1905). Trombetti estimated that the common ancestor of existing languages had been spoken between 100,000 and 200,000 years ago (not long after the appearance of anatomically modern humans).
Monogenesis was dismissed by many linguists in the late 19th and early 20th centuries when the doctrine of the polygenesis of the human races and their languages was popularized.
The best-known supporter of monogenesis in America in the mid-20th century was Morris Swadesh. He pioneered two important methods for investigating deep relationships between languages, lexicostatistics and glottochronology.
In the second half of the 20th century, Joseph Greenberg produced a series of large-scale classifications of the world's languages. These were and are controversial but widely discussed. Although Greenberg did not produce an explicit argument for monogenesis, all of his classification work was geared toward this end. As he stated: "The ultimate goal is a comprehensive classification of what is very likely a single language family."
Notable American advocates of linguistic monogenesis include Merritt Ruhlen, John Bengtson, and Harold Fleming.[citation needed]