On the Origin of Language

Author: Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2003-08-01
Features: The essay "On the Origin of Language" was never published during Rousseau's lifetime. He once planned to include this paper in a collection, which would also feature: the short essay "On the Imitation in Drama," primarily an overview and interpretation of Plato's discussions on imitation in The Republic and Laws; and the prose poem "The Levites of Israel," inspired by the story at the end of the Book of Judges. This book is a work by Jean-Jacques Rousseau from France, divided into twenty chapters, mainly covering topics such as various methods of thought communication, the idea that the initial invention of language should be credited to passion rather than need, the symbolic nature of early language, the distinctive features and evolution of early language, the discussion on writing, whether Homer could have written, modern prosody, general and regional differences in the origin of language, the formation of southern languages, the formation of northern languages, and reflections on the aforementioned differences.