• 1.

Q: What is the connection between the Heimlich maneuver and the development
of human speech?
A: Both involve the location of the larynx.
Q:What is Heimlich maneuver:
A: The Heimlich maneuver (abdominal thrusts) is a rapid first-aid procedure to
treat choking due to upper airway obstruction by a foreign object, typically food
or a toy. Chest thrusts and back blows can also be used if needed. (See also
Overview of Respiratory Arrest. (See also Respiratory Failure, Dyspnea, and
Hypoxia.)
( https://www.msdmanuals.com )
Q: How to perform Heimlich maneuver?
A: The Heimlich maneuver is performed by wrapping your arms around a person,
making a fist with one hand and clasping it with the other. You place your fists
between the person’s ribcage and belly button and thrust your hands into their
abdomen until the object is freed.
( https://my.clevelandclinic.org )
Q: What is Heimlich called now?
A: Given the increasingly controversial nature of Dr.Heimlich and some of his
research the American Red Cross decided to rename the heimlich manoeuvre an
abdominal thrust.
(https://www.reactfirst.co.uk )
Q: What is Larynx?
A: (LAYR-inx) The area of the throat containing the vocal cords and used for
breathing, swallowing, and talking. Also called voice box.
( https://www.cancer.gov )
Larynx and Pharynx
The human larynx or “voice box” (containing the vocal folds) differs significantly in
position from the larynx of other primates such as monkeys. In the course of
human physical development, the assumption of an upright posture moved the
head more directly above the spinal column and the larynx dropped to a lower
position. This created a longer cavity called the pharynx, above the vocal folds,
which acts as a resonator for increased range and clarity of the sounds produced
via the larynx. Other primates have almost no pharynx. One unfortunate
consequence of this development is that the lower position of the human larynx
makes it much more possible for the human to choke on pieces of food. Monkeys
may not be able to use their larynx to produce speech sounds, but they do not
suffer from the problem of getting food stuck in their windpipe. In evolutionary
terms, there must have been a big advantage in getting this extra vocal power (i.e.
a larger range of sounds) to outweigh the potential disadvantage from an
increased risk of choking to death.
( Study of language 7th edition )
• 2.
Q: What exactly happened at Babel and why is it used in explanations of language
origins?
A: The story of the Tower of Babel explains the origins of the multiplicity of
languages. God was concerned that humans had blasphemed by building the
tower to avoid a second flood so God brought into existence multiple languages.
Thus, humans were divided into linguistic groups, unable to understand one
another.
Tower of Babel, in biblical literature, structure built in the land of Shinar
(Babylonia) some time after the Deluge. The story of its construction, given in
Genesis 11:1–9, appears to be an attempt to explain the existence of diverse
human languages. According to Genesis, the Babylonians wanted to make a name
for themselves by building a mighty city and a tower “with its top in the heavens.”
God disrupted the work by so confusing the language of the workers that they
could no longer understand one another. The city was never completed, and the
people were dispersed over the face of the earth.
The myth may have been inspired by the Babylonian tower temple north of the
Marduk temple, which in Babylonian was called Bab-ilu (“Gate of God”), Hebrew
form Babel, or Bavel. The similarity in pronunciation of Babel and balal (“to
confuse”) led to the play on words in Genesis 11:9: “Therefore its name was called
Babel, because there the Lord confused the language of all the earth.”
Q: What is Genesis 11:9 ?
New Living Translation (NLT)
A: That is why the city was called Babel, because that is where the LORD confused
the people with different languages. In this way he scattered them all over the
world.
( https://www.bible.com )
Q: What is the meaning of Genesis 11:9?
A: Verse 9 sums up God’s act of judgment with a play on words. The word for the
name of the city Babel is very similar in Hebrew to the word for “confused.” In
fact, the whole section of verses 1 through 9 includes several allusions, in the
Hebrew language, to the name of Babel.
( https://www.bibleref.com )
• 3.
Q: What are arguments for and against a teleological explanation of the origin of
human language?
Q: What is a teleological explanation?
A: Teleology comes from two Greek words: telos, meaning “end, purpose or goal”,
and logos, meaning “explanation or reason”. From this, we get teleology: an
explanation of something that refers to its end, purpose or goal.
( https://ethics.org.au )
Q: What are arguments against a teleological explanation of the origin of human
language?
You are asking a “Why” question for a natural process for the changes of language
that have occurred over the past 200,000 years or so. Saying that there is a
teleological explanation requires that anyone proposing it should come up with
evidence supporting the idea—they have the burden of proof. No linguist worth
anything would make the statement that language development has been
teleological, and no articles in the language journals have made that proposition.
To propose that language development is teleological would mean that there has
been a higher power of some sort that controls the process or that we have
reached the end of the process.
The teleological arguments for many aspects of the evolution of human beings
have been proposed, but none of them have passed scrutiny. Similarly, I would
doubt that any teleological arguments for the development of language would
pass intense investigation.
If a person is a believer in some supernatural creature, like the Christian God, it is
then easy to jump to teleological explanations for everything human—like the
proposition that universe was created by God for Humans (who were created in
his image). Those explanations begin with probably false or assumed premises
(since they have the burden of proof to show that the Christian God exists first).
For example, the story of the Tower of Babble in the Bible, an explanation for the
existence of many different languages, assumes the existence of a God, that the
Bible is accurate in its proposed description, and that there was only one language
at one time in the past 3000 years. There is no irrefutable evidence to support this
story.
(Don Welty; MA linguistics.)
( https://www.quora.com )