Article published In: Historiographia Linguistica
Vol. 6:2 (1979) ► pp.149–157
Lucretius on the Origin of Language
Published online: 1 January 1979
https://doi.org/10.1075/hl.6.2.02jan
https://doi.org/10.1075/hl.6.2.02jan
Summary
The Roman poet and philosopher Lucretius (c. 99–55 B.C.) deserves a place in the history of linguistics because of his views on the origin of language. He was the first one to draw the parallel between the sounds of animals and the beginnings of human speech, and the first one to clearly envisage the creation of language as a fact of fundamental importance for the social organization of man. His ideas are related to modern research in the area in an interesting way.
Résumé
Lucrèce (n.v. 99-n.55 av. J.-C), le poète-philosophe romain, mérite te une place dans l’histoire de la linguistique en raison de sa pensée sur l’origine du langage. Le premier, il a vu le parallèle entre les sons des animaux et les premières tentatives linguistiques des humains, et le premier, il a nettement conçu la création du langage comme un fait d’importance fondamentale pour l’organisation sociale des hommes. Ses idées sont en rapport avec la recherche moderne sur le problème d’une manière intéressante.
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