[MD] Zen

[Steven Peterson]

Hi Arlo, Platt,

I agree, Arlo, I can't see how it makes sense to talk about "who was first" in this example. I'm sure lots of people moved various limbs in the direction of  various objects and made various sounds before we would consider the event as having anything to do with language. Language implies communication between individuals and can't be invented by a single person. In Platt's example, 

> >The someone who was first pointed to a pig and said, "Ugu." 

is the inventor.

But language can't be said to exist until...

>The other fellow 
> >pointed to the pig and said, "Ugu." 

and more importantly the shared understanding that...

>From then on, when they wanted to think 
> >pig, they thought "ugu." 

If there is no shared meaning, there is no languge so language can't have an individual inventor.

I wonder what linguists say about the origin of language.

Regards,
Steve