Language Theories

UNIVERSITY OF THE CORDILLERAS
COLLEGE OF TEACHER EDUCATION

GRADUATE PROGRAM
NAME: Manilyn R. Cacanindin

SUBJECT: PHD LE 601 [Linguistic and Language Education]
PROFESSOR: Dr. Lety Chawag
Date: May 26, 2018
TOPICS: Lying Hypothesis and Warning Hypothesis
A. Description of the Theory
LYING HYPOTHESIS. E. H. Sturtevant argued that, since all real intentions or emotions
get involuntarily expressed by gesture, look or sound, voluntary communication must have
been invented for the purpose of lying or deceiving. He proposed that the need to
deceive and lie--to use language in contrast to reality for selfish ends-- was the social
prompting that got language started.
Example:
A woman once found a blackberry thicket laden with ripe fruit. She satisfied her
hunger and then went in search of her child. When she found him she was still showing signs
of satiety-contentedly stroking her abdomen, perhaps. These signs the child correctly
interpreted and involuntarily he showed anxious curiosity about the supply of food which
he inferred. Hitherto the mother had always led the way to the berries and had plucked
them for the child, but today they were nearby and in easy reach-besides she was languid
after a full meal. So she made as if to reach for the berries, whereupon the child ran off in
the direction indicated to get them. For the first time in the life of the race the woman had
pointed for the sake of communication. No doubt she then lay down for an after-dinner
nap, quite unconscious that she had invented a device more useful, perhaps, than any
other mankind would ever hit upon.
WARNING HYPOTHESIS. Language may have evolved from warning signals such as
those used by animals. Perhaps language started with a warning to others, such as Look
out, Run, or Help to alert members of the tribe when some lumbering beast was
approaching. Other first words could have been hunting instructions or instructions
connected with other work. In other words, the first words were indexes used during
everyday activities and situations.
According to this hypothesis, human language begins with the use of arbitrary
symbols that represent warnings to other members of the human band. It is agreed that
one sort of vocal cry means that lions have been spotted in the area, and another one
indicates a snake. You holler one thing at your neighbour to warn them, "Don't eat that! It'll
make you sick!" and something distinguishable to warn them "Don't eat that! It's mine!"
B. Reaction/Impression
LYING HYPOTHESIS.
Telling lies often requires creating a story about an experience or attitude that does
not exist. In the example given, the mother was producing a gesture leading to the berries
but not actually getting then just like she usually did. But even if she did not really intend to
get the berry for her child, the child though that she was intentionally pointing to the berries
for the child to get. In this case, the mother unintentionally and unconsciously lied to the
child and enjoyed the benefit of being believed in after as she rests while the child is away.
This hypothesis explains a lot of possible reasons why people nowadays tend to lie.
If in the situation, the mother unintentionally lied to the child, nowadays people lie
for many reasons; one would already be the reason of the mother, like the mother, other a
person may unintentionally lie because of the interpretations of another person to his
messages. In the story, because the child understood the message as pointing towards the
berries, the child followed the direction and the mother took advantage of the
misinterpretation of the child, for other people they enjoy the and take advantage of the
misinterpretation like when a person says he is not feeling well, another person may
interpret this as “being physically sick”, making the person think that he is not able to work
even if the meaning is “he is not in the mood”.
Other reasons may be (a) to save face, this is when a person is embarrassed about
an action he did and is forced to lie because he does not like to experience
embarrassment, (b) to manage relationships, maybe done by a person when he did
something wrong and does not want to hurt the other person, (c) to avoid tension or
conflict, this may be done when a person knows that he committed a mistake and does
not want to have a dispute with another person and (d) to control a situation, this may be
done when a person does not like to embarrass another person who did something wrong
and to save this person from embarrassment or a greater conflict, the person in control of
the situation just lies in favour of the person who made the mistake. These ways of lying may
actually benefit the person himself, the other person, and their relationship.
WARNING HYPOTHESIS.
Warn, caution, admonish imply attempting to prevent another from running into
danger or getting into unpleasant or undesirable circumstances. To warn is to speak plainly
and usually in strong terms: to warn him about danger and possible penalties. To caution is
to advise about necessary precautions, to put one on one's guard about possibly harmful
circumstances or conditions, thus emphasizing avoidance of undesirable consequences: to
caution him against driving in such weather. Admonish suggests giving earnest,
authoritative advice with only tacit references to danger or penalty: to admonish a person
for neglecting his duties (http://www.dictionary.com).
With the provided definitions of the warning and the explanation of the warning
hypothesis, it can be said that warning as an origin of language emerged for the purpose
of providing protection to people. Warnings are very useful to provide peace and order in
any situation. At present, there are a lot of warning communications that protect humanity
in general. Warning as a means of communication is very essential because it provides
advance knowledge to people whether to do an action or to avoid one. Adults are the
experts in suing warning because they have the knowledge about the consequences of
the possible danger if a warning was not given.
In conclusion, these two hypotheses are logical and are actually being applied nowadays
anywhere and by anyone because of the benefits that they provide to the user of the
language, even if sometimes some of them are morally wrong especially for the “lying”.
References:
Matthew L. Newman James W. Pennebaker Lying Words: Predicting Deception From

Linguistic Styles. The University of Texas at Austin Diane S. Berry Southern Methodist University
Jane M. Richards The University of Washington
http://about.jstor.org/participate--‐jstor/individuals/early--‐ journal--‐content.
https://freelanguage.org/general-language-info/linguistic-hypotheses-on-the-origins-of-
language

Language Theories

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Language Theories

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Description:

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Language Theories

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

UNIVERSITY OF THE CORDILLERAS

COLLEGE OF TEACHER EDUCATION

NAME: Manilyn R. Cacanindin

A. Description of the Theory

Matthew L. Newman James W. Pennebaker Lying Words: Predicting Deception From

You might also like