The Spirit in Human Evolution - Waldorf Research Institute

Language: a Formative Principle
The origin of language is probably the least understood aspect of human
evolution. Its significance however is not in doubt. Current theory sees the acquisition
of complex language as probably the defining factor in the emergence of modern Homo
sapiens. Since the question of language goes right to the heart of the mind-matter
conundrum, it is not surprising that practically all modern theories as to its origin and
evolution dwell on the matter side of the equation, usually focusing on the neurological
aspects.
From the anthropological point of view, various models accounting for the origin
of language have been put forward suggesting a causal link with uprightness and manual
dexterity, tool making, social structures, increase in brain size and so on, in short all the
essential human traits as promoters of language development. But all these explanations
have a certain chicken and egg character. They no doubt all played a role but it is equally
possible to see language as the cause of at least some of these traits, increased brain size,
for example.
The Lessons of Language Acquisition
Once again the analogy of the development of the child can provide us with
insight into the origin of the human faculty of language. It is not possible here to describe
in detail how the young child acquires language; I have done this elsewhere. 39 It is
instructive, however, to reflect on what language development does for the child’s whole
development.
For the young child language has more function than simple communication;
language also has the function of differentiating the entire emerging inner life of the soul.
Language provides a means of generalizing and categorizing experience and as Susan
Engel has shown, narrative structure in language provides the child with a means of
ordering and understanding the world and crucially in developing a consciousness of
self. 40
Just as the senses differentiate out of a global state of perception (the child as
“wholly sense organ”—Steiner) into the different realms of conscious and unconscious
experience, so too language differentiates out of a global experience and the individual
sounds, syllables, words and phrases receive their contours. Through the development of
language, the child learns to order and structure his or her inner life and thereby creates
a sense of identity, a perspective of self and the other, a sense of self in relation to the
world.
Two Sides to Language: Lexis and Logos
Language has a double aspect. On the one side there is its grammatical and
syntactical nature, what linguists call universal or generative grammar. This is the
archetypal, spiritual nature of language and its function is to order, form, structure,
symbolize and harmonize. The other side of language expresses feeling, passion and
the will of the individual. This side of language arises out of the organism and its ensouled
nature, out of sensation, pain, pleasure, desire, interest. This side of language is
fundamentally communicative. The other side, the universal, structural side enables us
to form representations, to conceptualize and form ideas and ideals. It provides us with
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39
Rawson, M., 1997, “Language: Logos and Linguistics,” Paideia No. 14, February 1997.
40
Engel, S., 1996, The Stories Children Tell, Chapter 7.
195