Ursprache, Glottogony, and Weltschmerz

In honor of eighth-grader Katherine Close, who won the National Spelling Bee last night, today’s Word of the Day is Ursprache:

Ur·spra·che ( r shprä )
n.
See protolanguage.
[German : ur-, original (from Middle High German, out of, from Old High German; see ud- in Indo-European roots) + Sprache, language, speech (from Middle High German spr che, from Old High German spr hha).]

pro·to·lan·guage (pr t -l ng gw j)
n.
A language that is the recorded or hypothetical ancestor of another language or group of languages. Also called Ursprache.

Both definitions are from the Free Online Dictionary.

Looking these up on-line led me further, via Wikipedia, to a totally new word for me, Glottogony, meaning “the origin of language”. The Wiki gives a fascinating overview of this complicated subject. Here’s the opening of the article:

“The origin of language (glottogony, glossogeny) is a topic that has been written about for centuries, but the ephemeral nature of speech means that there is almost no data on which to base conclusions on the subject. We know that, at least once during human evolution, a system of verbal communication emerged from proto-linguistic or non-linguistic means of communication, but beyond that little can be said. No current human group, anywhere, speaks a "primitive" or rudimentary language. While existing languages differ in the size and subjects covered in their several lexicons, all human languages possess the grammar and syntax needed, and can invent, translate, or borrow the vocabulary needed to express the full range of their speakers' concepts.
Homo sapiens clearly have an inherent capability for language that is not present in any other species known today. Whether other extinct hominid species, such as Neanderthals, possessed such a capacity is not known. The use of language is one of the most conspicuous and diagnostic traits that distinguish H. sapiens from other animals.”
And with that teaser, I leave it to you whether you want to read more. But I think the subject of the original emergence of language is something I’ll probably be coming back to in the blog.

***

On a side note, I thought it was funny, in a sad kind of way, that the New York Times article on the spelling bee defined the word weltschmerz as “a type of mental depression.” This is a medicalized and trivialized definition of a term that is actually philosophical and literary in origin. Here’s a link to a better definition, which I’m also reproducing below:

“Weltschmerz (from the German language meaning world-pain or world-weariness, see ) is a term coined by the German author Jean Paul and denotes the kind of feeling experienced by someone who understands that the physical reality can never satisfy the demands of the mind. This kind of pessimistic world view was widespread among several romantic authors such as Lord Byron, Giacomo Leopardi, François-René de Chateaubriand, Alfred de Musset, Nikolaus Lenau and Heinrich Heine. It is also used to denote the feeling of sadness when thinking about the evils of the world -- compare empathy, theodicy. The modern meaning of Weltschmerz in the German language is the psychological pain caused by sadness, that can occur when realizing that someone's own weaknesses are caused by the inappropiateness and cruelness of the world and (physical and social) circumstances. Weltschmerz in this meaning can cause depression, resignation and escapism, and can become a mental problem (compare to Hikikomori).”

So after that NYT definition I think I’m starting to feel a little schmerzy myself. Maybe we should have a National Meaning Bee.