Frederick II’s Language Deprivation Experiment: What is the Natural Language of Humans?

Throughout history, various experiments on language deprivation have been conducted to explore the origins of language.

The earliest documented experiment was described by Herodotus, who noted that Pharaoh Psammetichus (likely Psametek) raised two children with deaf shepherds to see which language they would naturally speak without influence.

When presented to the Pharaoh, one child uttered “bekos,” a word recognized as Phrygian for bread, leading Psammetichus to conclude that Phrygian was humanity’s original language.

Another notable figure, Frederick II (Holy Roman Emperor, 1194–1250 AD), conducted a similar yet tragic experiment, as recorded by Salimbene di Adam, an Italian Franciscan friar, in his chronicles.

Salimbene, influenced by papal propaganda that depicted Frederick II as a heretic and a Church persecutor, likely exaggerated these accounts. Frederick II’s rule spanned over the Holy Roman Empire, which included the Kingdom of Germany, north-central Italy, and the Kingdom of Sicily, putting him at odds with the Church State situated between these territories. His plans to unite these kingdoms threatened the Church’s power, exacerbating tensions with the papacy. This friction led to his excommunication three times, fueled by his unconventional peace negotiations with Sultan al-Malik al-Kamil for control of Jerusalem, bypassing warfare.

Salimbene might have also been influenced by Joachimite theories, which predicted the nearing end of the age of the Son and the rise of the Antichrist who would reform the corrupt Church. He attributed several false experiments to Frederick to malign him further, including bizarre tests like enclosing a prisoner in a cask to observe the soul’s escape at death or comparing the digestion of two differently active prisoners.

Salimbene wrote that Frederick encouraged “foster-mothers and nurses to suckle and bathe and wash the children, but in no ways to prattle or speak with them; for he would have learnt whether they would speak the Hebrew language (which had been the first), or Greek, or Latin, or Arabic, or perchance the tongue of their parents of whom they had been born. But he laboured in vain, for the children could not live without clappings of the hands, and gestures, and gladness of countenance, and blandishments.“

Frederick II’s language deprivation experiment involved infants raised without human interaction to identify a potential inherent natural language. It was believed he wanted to discover the language God might have imparted to Adam and Eve.

Salimbene reported that despite the care from nurses in feeding and cleaning the infants, Frederick’s experiment failed as the children needed more than just physical care; they needed emotional interaction and stimulation, which were absent.

Read the full story about the Frederick II’s Language Deprivation Experiment at Weirditaly.com