The Origins of Language: Divine Providence or Human Codification (11th century)
Through a blog I found this essay, written by the 11th century scholar Ibn Hazm, on the origins of language. The fact that people were speculating about this a thousand years ago is interesting enough, but Ibn Hazm has some decidedly modern thoughts about language, making this particularly interesting. He decides that the origin of spoken language is instruction from Allah, because the alternatives don’t make sense — but that part’s not what interests me about the essay. He speculates about the relationship between Syriac, Hebrew and Arabic, and he has this to say about one language being better than another:
There are those who assume their language is better than others. This means nothing, since superiority comes about in certain well-known ways: either by deeds or by special distinction. A language has no deeds and there is no scriptural text conferring the distinction of superiority to one language over another. (…) Galen was very much mistaken when he said: “Greek is the superior language, because all other languages sound like either the barking of dogs or the croaking of frogs.”
This is blatant ignorance, since when anyone hears a language other than his own, a language he does not understand, it invariably sounds to him the way that Galen describes it.
The letter-sounds of languages are all the same, none take precedence over any others, and there is no inherent ugliness or beauty in some to the exclusion of others. They are the same for all languages.I’ve mentioned before that Muslims consider the Koran to be inherently Arabic, untranslatable — hence translations of the Koran are not the Koran, they are “interpretations”. But Ibn Hazm has a counterargument to this, on theological grounds:
Allah says: “And We did not send any messenger but with the language of his people, so that he might explain to them clearly.” [Sûrah Ibrâhîm: 4]
He also says: “We have made this (Qur’an) easy, in your tongue, in order that they may give heed.” [Sûrah al-Dukhân: 58]
So Allah tells us that He only revealed the Qur’an in Arabic so that the Prophet’s people could understand it. That is the only reason. (…)
People have said that Arabic is the best of languages, because Allah’s words are conveyed by it.
This does not mean a thing, because Allah has told us he always sent a Messenger speaking his native tongue, and Allah says: “There never was a people without a warner having lived among them.” [Sûrah Fâtir: 24]
This means that Allah’s words and revelations were sent down in every language. He sent the Torah, the Gospel, and the Psalms. He spoke to Moses in Hebrew. He sent the Scrolls to Abraham in Syriac. Therefore, languages are equal in this regard.In addition, he argues that it would not be impossible for people to invent a new language once they had a language through which they could agree on the meaning of words, but this “would be a tremendous and meaningless effort, the type of excess that no sensible person would think of undertaking”, and a person who did this “would have to be excessively frivolous and poor in judgment, busying himself with what has no benefit while neglecting what concerns him”. And if such a language was created, the person creating it would have no success in imposing it on people who already speak another language. Remarkably prescient, don’t you think?
