Misadventures and Musings #4
Sounds of Surprise
Are languages not just a bunch of noises?
Shower thoughts get me yet again as I ponder the origin of some human sounds produced by babies and adults alike. I feel like I need to stay in the shower indefinitely if I want to come up with content for the blog. But jokes aside, I came across a small observation.
Many languages are related across the world, be it through some deep human connection or a similar root language; there are similarities between various sections of multiple human languages.
Language is a medium used to express one’s thoughts. Human languages are much the same, but what if some ideas are shared the same way irrespective of language? Some sort of base instinctual sound?
Two specific sounds come to my mind when I think of this:
1. The sound of pain or pleasure for most humans is a shriek usually along “AAAAHH”(this might sound ridiculous but put up with me)
2. The sound of surprise — usually having the “ha” or “huh” syllable
I’m going to base my initial speculation on my *proficiency* in English, Hindi, Tamil and some superficial knowledge of Korean, Japanese and a few other European languages.
Parents and Language
The words or sounds for “Father” and “Mother” have had similarities across various language systems: pater and mater in Latin, pitr and matr in Sanskrit, appa and amma in Tamil and Korean, papa and mama in tonnes of other languages. While these are strictly not the formal words used in many languages, I think the informal but more day-to-day words matter more in our discussion.
You might have thought for a moment, that somehow all humans had a single language or considered aliens to be the progenitor of language. But it’s far more simple.
The syllables related to “ma” and “pa” are considered special cases of false cognates in linguistics. False cognates are pairs of words that seem to be etymologically related because of similar sounds and meaning but have different etymologies; they can be within the same language or from different languages, even within the same family.
From what I understand, ‘mama’ and ‘papa’ are among the easiest sounds human babies can produce. Parents tend to associate these sounds with themselves, effectively integrating them into “language”. It is even speculated that these might have been the first words humans spoke far back in the past. So there really is no profound relationship between the similar-sounding words. (So it wasn’t the aliens after all!)
Surprise… or Pain?
Now that I’ve laid the groundwork, let’s focus on the sounds of surprise. The previous line of thought led me to think about the fact that most humans let out a “HA” sound in shock, disbelief, suspense or surprise.
The only reasoning I could come up with for the sound is the sudden exhalation of the previously held breath due to anticipation. This might not be a scientifically accurate testing routine, but it works for our speculative investigation into commonalities between human sounds. routine, but it works for our speculative investigation into commonalities between human sounds
Records of “hah”, “heh”, or “huh” with various enunciation have been recorded since early-14th to mid-15th Century across most European languages. In reality, these could be sounds as old as the above mentioned parental words.
I raise the same argument (without much proof) with the sound “aah” being produced by human instinct that transcends language barriers. Any human can recognize someone in pain when he shouts, and more certainly so if it’s “aah!!”. A sigh of relief can also be considered a sound related with the “ha” or the “aah” scheme depending on the region and multiple other factors.
Isn’t it surprising to see time and time again, how similar we are to simple mammals and at the same time look at how far we’ve developed cognitively as a species? With complex language, mostly separated from its dependencies on sound, focusing entirely on syntax and logic? Programming languages are a great example of languages that are not dependent of human speech or sound.
Hope I shared something interesting with you guys! Hope I get another idea in a shower another time!
References:
https://www.etymonline.com/word/ha?ref=etymonline_crossreference
https://www.etymonline.com/word/ha?ref=etymonline_crossreference
https://www.etymonline.com/word/ha?ref=etymonline_crossreference
