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In his book Sprache oder Was den Menschen zum Menschen macht, Nikolaus Nützel deals with an extremely wide variety of issues to do with language. His subtitle surely overstates the case in suggesting that language is the defining attribute of human existence and is thus what makes us different from animals — but there can be no doubt that it is a clear marker of that difference. To wonder about the origins of language, therefore, is also by implication to wonder about the origins of human society.
This fundamental question is Nützel’s starting point too. And to ensure that everything remains readily comprehensible, without at the same time making professional linguists tear their hair out, the author makes it clear at the outset that he has deliberately simplified various complex matters in order to help his younger readers follow the argument. By this means he succeeds in turning an inherently demanding topic into the appealing subject matter of a vivid and gripping book that throws light on highly diverse aspects of human language.
Nützel begins by describing the various efforts of researchers to explore the origins of human language. Amongst the many languages known to us, which was the first? Was there in fact a single first language, or were there several? How might language have come into being? Linguistic archaeologists don’t have answers to all these questions, but various theories give us pause for thought.
In this context Nützel also looks at the different communicative processes used by humans and animals. He discusses the various modes of communication to be found in the animal world, ranging from relatively simple calls warning of the presence of enemies, right through to allegedly meaningful conversations with anthropoids on abstract topics. Useful internet addresses are listed at the end of each chapter encouraging the reader to explore the topic further.
Nützel devotes a considerable part of the book to today’s multiplicity of languages, and to scholarly theories about their origin. According to some estimates there are as many as 10,000 languages current in the world today, while other estimates are more cautious and propose a figure of approximately 3,000. What is certain, however, is that the number is constantly dwindling because of increased human mobility, so that it is altogether reasonable to wonder whether at some point in the future there will be just a single ‘world language’.
The progression from spoken language to written language might seem to us a logical one — yet writing began to develop only about 5,000 years ago, in the Far East and separately also in the Near East. Nützel describes the evolution from pictograms to forms of writing using syllables and letters. With the aid of illustrations and tables he shows how ancient scripts were successfully decoded, what sort of archaeological discoveries were necessary for this to happen, and the extent to which such investigations turn out to be real brain-teasers.
It is only a small step from decoding ancient scripts to encoding messages in the modern world. Regardless of whether it’s a matter of secret languages or the transmission of military intelligence, regardless of whether it involves highly sophisticated encryption programs or a simple system of letter-substitution — such texts are incomprehensible to non-initiates. But codes of this kind exist not only in written form but also in spoken language. Thieves’ cant is a typical example, and is used by Nützel to illustrate the historical-linguistic background to ‘secret languages’.
Nützel makes use of numerous examples, taken not only from German but also from English, French and Italian, in order to show how languages are related to each other, and how modern terminology derives from ancient words. Considerable adaptation would thus be required if the book were to be translated, but for European readers in particular this children’s book offers a plethora of new and entertaining insights into everyday language. The various chapters are clearly arranged and complemented by numerous graphics and illustrations, and lend themselves well to being read on their own.
Heike Friesel
January 2008
[Translated by Helena Ragg-Kirkby]
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