At a very early period in the evolution of civilization men
began to ask questions regarding language; and the answers to
these questions were naturally embodied in the myths, legends,
and chronicles of their sacred books.
Among the foremost of these questions were three: "Whence
came language?" "Which was the first language?" "How came the
diversity of language?"
The answer to the first of these was very simple: each
people naturally held that language was given it directly or
indirectly by some special or national deity of its own; thus, to
the Chaldeans by Oannes, to the Egyptians by Thoth, to the
Hebrews by Jahveh.
The Hebrew answer is embodied in the great poem which opens
our sacred books. Jahveh talks with Adam and is perfectly
understood; the serpent talks with Eve and is perfectly
understood; Jahveh brings the animals before Adam, who bestows on
each its name. Language, then, was God-given and complete. Of the
fact that every language is the result of a growth process there
was evidently, among the compilers of our sacred books, no suspicion,
The answer to the second of these questions was no less
simple.
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