The Origin of Human Language according to Ibn Ḥazm and the Ikhwan al-Ṣafā’

Abstract

The question regarding the origin of human language was and still is one of the biggest philosophical questions which has been theorized and talked about for a very long time, this topic was one which Socrates talked about and was further elaborated upon by Plato in one of his dialogues called “Cratylus”.

Therefore, it should come as no surprise that Muslim philosophers, thinkers and theologians dealt with, wrote about, and continue to write about the topic of language and its origin. Regarding the Islamic perspective on this topic, some said that language is tawqīf from God and others said that it’s iṣṭilaḥ, the group who said that language is tawqīf justify their position from the Qur’ānic verse “And he taught Adam the names of all things” They said that this is evidence that the origin of human language is God. This group accentuated the pre-eminent role that divine agency played a part in the imposition of language, i.e. words have been assigned their meanings primordially by God. 

The counter argument to the idea of tawqīf is that if God is the originator of human language, what was the language that he taught Adam? Is it Syriac or Arabic or Hebrew or the Greek language? Moreover, was it one language or more than one, or did he teach him the names of all things in all languages?

The second viewpoint contrary to tawqīf is referred to as iṣṭilaḥ, this viewpoint predicates that language was established and evolved via a process of common convention and agreement: words together with their meanings were assigned and given intrinsic value by human beings, although both viewpoints posit that the actual relationship between words and their assigned meanings remain entirely arbitrary, rejecting any natural link between the two. It is important to add that later Islamic scholarship accepted that both the viewpoints of tawqīf and iṣṭilaḥ were plausible, furthermore, within the course of the 9th/10th century opinions on this topic were ostensibly polarized between the orthodox and rationalist camps, with the former endorsing tawqīf and the later endorsing iṣṭilaḥ. 

The reason to why I was motivated to explore and write about this topic is so I can reintroduce the Islamic perspective regarding this controversial issue, I will mainly be concentrating on the ideas and viewpoints of Ibn Ḥazm and the Ikhwān al-Ṣafā’ from this point onwards, I would like to know their views about the origin of human language, i.e. what is the origin of human language according to them?