I think the order of language modes is as follows: Sign, Speech and Written. To me this order makes sense as sign seems to be the most obvious and basic whereas the other two seem a bit more complex and could require more work.
Take prehistoric humans (cavemen) as an example, what mode of language do you think they most likely would have used first? I think they would have used signing first because it seems obvious in most cases and simple compared to the other two, for example, if the cavemen were hunting in a group and in order to remain silent but still keep the ability to lead they could of used signing like the present day military who use signing for various reasons such as: It is too loud to hear words, stealth is necessary, etc. This does not mean that they did not develop a language to talk though which I think they did. Human babies use signing early on for example they may want something to drink and if they recognise a bottle = a drink then they could point to the bottle and they even may use some sort of sound as well (speech).
Speech to me seems more complex than signing and that is why I would say it comes second and from my general observations of human babies it seems to me that they use signing first for example they would recognise their mother and they also recognise warmth so in order to get close to their mum they reach out with their hands and arms, mother = warmth. Eventually human babies develop a larger vocabulary and learn how to use it but even though they have learned how to speak they still use signing as does everyone and as their speech improves so does their signing, maybe after continuous development of their signing and speech they might ask themselves what it might look like on paper?
A child starts to draw and from my experience of watching my little sister develop her language skills she started to make her own written language of the English language but as she grew older and she had more experience with the English language she discovered how to recognise various letters and even started to recognise words shortly after from the English language.
According to these websites: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1566748/Cavemen-may-have-used-language.html and http://crystalesp.blogspot.com.au/2007/10/cavemen-language.html , Scientists have recently discovered a gene that is found in modern day humans and this gene is called FOXP2. The FOXP2 gene is a gene that is needed for the development of speaking as it controls the muscles to form words with the larynx. On this website http://books.google.com.au/books/about/Language_in_hand.html?id=ME_64lsKO3kC&redir_esc=y the editorial review of the book “Language in hand” explains that the author explained why signing came before speech and did this by “He then supports his proposed order of linguistic development from four approaches: exploring the unique ability of visible signs to resemble what they represent, comparing human anatomy involved in gesture and speech to the anatomy of chimpanzees and other primates, examining signed languages still in use today among both hearing and hearing-impaired communities, and observing linguistic development in children.” According to page 95 the caveman’s skull structure had less room for a vocal cavity and that as the Humans today have a more erect head this allows for a larger vocal cavity and this supports that signing may have come before speech as the cavemen would of used some sort of sound but signing probably would have been more dominant because it is more flexible. On this website http://www.lingforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=3395&sid=9dfc8f60b1c8800723e3b0732eb67cc2 a debate between users about what comes first out of speech and written and is generally accepted by the majority that speech came first. According to one user if you go back to the middle of the Palaeolithic they had “a culture rich in symbolism and ritual” and she argues that in order to have ritual and symbolism an idea must first be shared among the community. However another user who thinks that Written came before Speech argues with that language is the organised set of mental representations and if this is true then it is not silly to think that written came before speech and that according to scientists that babies start developing language first by recognising visual patterns as stated earlier that for example, a bottle = a drink but then this is not written. So in conclusion and in my opinion I think the order of language modes is: Sign, Speech and then Written.
Take prehistoric humans (cavemen) as an example, what mode of language do you think they most likely would have used first? I think they would have used signing first because it seems obvious in most cases and simple compared to the other two, for example, if the cavemen were hunting in a group and in order to remain silent but still keep the ability to lead they could of used signing like the present day military who use signing for various reasons such as: It is too loud to hear words, stealth is necessary, etc. This does not mean that they did not develop a language to talk though which I think they did. Human babies use signing early on for example they may want something to drink and if they recognise a bottle = a drink then they could point to the bottle and they even may use some sort of sound as well (speech).
Speech to me seems more complex than signing and that is why I would say it comes second and from my general observations of human babies it seems to me that they use signing first for example they would recognise their mother and they also recognise warmth so in order to get close to their mum they reach out with their hands and arms, mother = warmth. Eventually human babies develop a larger vocabulary and learn how to use it but even though they have learned how to speak they still use signing as does everyone and as their speech improves so does their signing, maybe after continuous development of their signing and speech they might ask themselves what it might look like on paper?
A child starts to draw and from my experience of watching my little sister develop her language skills she started to make her own written language of the English language but as she grew older and she had more experience with the English language she discovered how to recognise various letters and even started to recognise words shortly after from the English language.
According to these websites: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1566748/Cavemen-may-have-used-language.html and http://crystalesp.blogspot.com.au/2007/10/cavemen-language.html , Scientists have recently discovered a gene that is found in modern day humans and this gene is called FOXP2. The FOXP2 gene is a gene that is needed for the development of speaking as it controls the muscles to form words with the larynx. On this website http://books.google.com.au/books/about/Language_in_hand.html?id=ME_64lsKO3kC&redir_esc=y the editorial review of the book “Language in hand” explains that the author explained why signing came before speech and did this by “He then supports his proposed order of linguistic development from four approaches: exploring the unique ability of visible signs to resemble what they represent, comparing human anatomy involved in gesture and speech to the anatomy of chimpanzees and other primates, examining signed languages still in use today among both hearing and hearing-impaired communities, and observing linguistic development in children.” According to page 95 the caveman’s skull structure had less room for a vocal cavity and that as the Humans today have a more erect head this allows for a larger vocal cavity and this supports that signing may have come before speech as the cavemen would of used some sort of sound but signing probably would have been more dominant because it is more flexible. On this website http://www.lingforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=3395&sid=9dfc8f60b1c8800723e3b0732eb67cc2 a debate between users about what comes first out of speech and written and is generally accepted by the majority that speech came first. According to one user if you go back to the middle of the Palaeolithic they had “a culture rich in symbolism and ritual” and she argues that in order to have ritual and symbolism an idea must first be shared among the community. However another user who thinks that Written came before Speech argues with that language is the organised set of mental representations and if this is true then it is not silly to think that written came before speech and that according to scientists that babies start developing language first by recognising visual patterns as stated earlier that for example, a bottle = a drink but then this is not written. So in conclusion and in my opinion I think the order of language modes is: Sign, Speech and then Written.
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