I’m in a perpetual juggling mode.
I’m still in graduate school while serving as my children’s teacher given the modular platform of learning that they are currently enrolled in.
So when I work on my learning tasks in school, I often involve my children in the process.
One of my learning task was to create a theory on the origin of language. Our class was instructed to be creative.
I had my Nick, Toni, and JJ proposed their own theories and then I worked with each child in crafting the theory into, well, stories that are, at the very least, understandable.
So here goes…
Dinosaur Roar Theory
I developed this theory with my five-year-old son, Jeffrey Peter Jr. Jeffrey refuses to believe that dinosaurs have been wiped out from the face of the earth. He argues that there is a dinosaur in each one of us that is why we “roar” when we are angry. He calls this “dinosaur language.”
Roaring, or the dinosaur language, originated 65 million years ago when dinosaurs physically inhabited the earth. A huge meteor from space hit the earth and caused a massive global fire that annihilated the physical bodies of the dinosaurs. But the wind-like space material from the meteor was also so powerful that it was able to capture the non-tangible qualities of the dinosaurs such as its anger manifested in their roars. The material protected these qualities inside invisible bubbles. So powerful was the material that it stayed on earth. It never disappeared. It did not wear off even after millions of years.
When human beings inhabited the earth, they inhaled the wind-like material possessing the dinosaurs’ roaring qualities. What used to be gentle and meek creatures acquired the dinosaur roar, which was then used to express their anger. The roar has since been regarded as a powerful weapon in communicating the angry emotion and has been taken as a signal to stay away from people who “roared” and approach only after the anger subsides. Case in point: When your mother is angry, she is exhibiting the dinosaur roar. In the event that this happens, stay out of her way.
The Theory of Divine Language
The next theory was initially proposed by Nicholas Louis L. Ruffolo, my seven-year-old son. We then worked on developing this theory/story together.
Once upon a time, Heavenly Father was looking down on the people living on earth. During that time, the world was divided into Laymanites and the Dynamites. The people were constantly fighting using swords, arrows and bows, and spears. It was not clear why they fought all the time. It was hard to make them sit down and communicate using a language that everyone speaks.
All of them scream because only five vowels – – a, e, i, o u, – – come out of their mouths.
They say “aaaaa” when they attack.
They say “eeeee” when they are happy.
They say “iiiii” when they are hurt.
They say “ooooo” when they are excited.
They say “uuuuu” when they answer the call of nature.
The Laymanites and the Dynamites cannot speak any consonants. They wanted to. They understand words but they cannot communicate them. They cannot write too. The vowels and the sounds they created were the only letters and sounds they used in communicating with allies and with enemies.
But Heavenly Father had too much of the fighting. It was not giving the earth any peace. The screams and the noise shake the earth all the time, which scare away plants and animals. They chose to hide in dark forests and black holes leaving the earth barren and brown.
So Heavenly Father helped the people to acquire the ability to speak a language; a language that is not only composed of vowels. From the sky, he winked and waved his hand and the consonants came down.
The moment the consonants were absorbed by the Laymanites and the Dynamites, they stopped fighting. They each touched their throats and heard themselves utter words for the first time.
“Stop!” roared the Laymanite leader.
“Listen! ” was the response of the Dynamite head.
The rest of the soldiers paused and saw Heavenly Father write on the sky.
“This is your language. Use it well.”
From then on, people communicate using consonants and vowels and put them together to make words, phrases, sentences, and paragraphs. It was not easy but they learned along the way.
After many years, they learned how to speak the English language appropriately. However, some of them still think about their past life when all they have in terms of language and communication were the five vowels. This is why disagreements still arise.
As for Heavenly Father, he is alright with a few disagreements as long as others step in to help sort out language and communication problems.
The Language Boat Theory
Antoinette Elena, twin sister of Nicholas, started this story about gypsies spreading the usage of the English language all over the world. This is why many people around the world have acquired the ability to speak the English language. This is what we came up with when we worked together.
In a small town called England many years ago, there lived a group of boat people called gypsies. They spoke a language called English. The gypsies never stayed put in one place. They love to travel and explore the world. They sing songs using their handmade guitars and drums. They write poems on paper and read them aloud during long nights when they sailed from the East to the West and back.
In every stop, they introduce themselves using songs and poems. The people around the world loved them! They have their own instruments but they have not heard songs and poems in the English language. The people were fascinated by this and so they asked the gypsies to teach them how to read, write, and speak. The gypsies stay in every island until the natives are fluent enough to write and read poems and sing songs. They then leave the island after a party with a program consisting of a mini-concert and poetry reading.
The gypsies traveled far and wide to the seven continents to spread the English language using songs and poems. There were countries in every continent, however, that they only stayed for a little while because there was little food and water. They had to leave and seek provisions in other islands. Some countries were impossible for them to reach because it was too dangerous for them to enter. There were pirates at sea which made the gypsies fear for their lives. In some cases, volcanoes surrounded the island.
It was not an easy journey for the gypsies but they made it through different islands in every continent.
Today, English is widely spoken around the world all thanks to the gypsies who made language learning an enjoyable adventure!
What do you think about their theories?
