Re: [tied] Re: The Googoo Hypothesis must be squashed

From: Piotr Gasiorowski
Message: 5227
Date: 2000-12-30

Please have some patience. When I get back to work next week I'll fish out the references for you.
 
Batta is a Chadic language spoken in Cameroon.
 
Actually, the accepted term is the "bow-wow theory" of language origins (language was invented by imitating the sounds of nature). Needless to say, this 19th-century view was crazily simplistic in its separation of language from biology, psychology and culture.
 
Piotr
 
 
----- Original Message -----
From: Håkan Lindgren
To: Cybalist
Sent: Saturday, December 30, 2000 1:02 PM
Subject: [tied] Re: The Googoo Hypothesis must be squashed

Piotr:
"If you examine newly coined words, expressive vocabulary, etc. -- the part of lexicon where history doesn't play much role -- sound symbolism is very much present there, in a perfectly measurable way. Onomatopoeic and iconic words may also undergo "aging" and lose their non-arbitrary shape. The "googoo hypothesis" was about the origin of language, not about the nature of phonosymbolism. There's a large literature on the latter problem and if you're interested I can provide you with references."

This is getting interesting! Yes please, post a few references.

Piotr:
"The regular use of this phenomenon in many unrelated languages is also well documented, cf. Batta jarar 'creep (in general)', jirir 'creep (of small critters)', jurur (of something big and fearsome)'."

Where is Batta spoken?

Is there something that is actually called "the googoo hypothesis"? I thought Glen made this word up.

Hakan