What was the first word that mankind uttered? There must have been one… Raymond Simms, Hull
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“Wilma!” brick maker option
I think there was a sudden transition from vocalized strings of sounds to meaningful sentences. At that stage, most would have already recognized the meaning or intention, but not yet made it clear to themselves what the connection between the sounds and the deliberate intention to make meaning is. I bet it happened during singing; someone was fooling around and suddenly it made sense, like when babies learn to walk. HolgerDan
“Help!” or “Run!” Asherink
Many long years ago I studied Herodotus, the Greek historian, who had a story about this. A king wanted to know the first word ever spoken by mankind, so he had two children raised by a goatherd, who had never heard spoken voices, and waited to see what word they would come up with first. It was supposedly “bekos”, which was the Phrygian word for “bread”. It’s not very scientific, but shows that people have been debating it for a long time… HGrant
It was almost certainly “mama”, “papa”, “dada”, “abba” or some variation thereof. It’s no coincidence that names for parents are similar to baby babble sounds in almost all languages: it’s a win-win. Parents can apparently make their baby talk and baby is rewarded for making the “right” sounds. Natalie O’Tham
I read somewhere that indexical terms like “it” and “it” are very important contenders. If I had to choose one or the other, I would go with “it”. What you don’t have is always somehow more interesting than what you do have. aoidh
In the beginning was the word; before the word the throat was cleared. (With thanks to Terry Pratchett.) David Hoare
Humanity’s first word was something basic and yet so important that it had to be passed on to others. I think it was “food”, that of signaling to others where the food was and what was safe to eat. While primitive humans may not have been big on sharing, they must have had mates and children (the species done survive after all), so I guess they would have to help each other find the nearest snack. Gareth Bell
Adam and Eve pointed to each other and both said, “Ooo!” which later became: “You!” RPO Orlando
The Norwegian linguist Jørgen Alexander Knudtzon were able to decipher the very old (second millennium BC) Hittite language in part because the Hittite word for “water” was roughly “wadar” – that is, it was remarkably similar to the word found in many modern Indo-European languages be, including English and German (“wasser”). He knew the sounds involved in Hittite because it was written in the same cuneiform script as other previously deciphered languages; guessing that “wadar” might mean “water” was one of the crucial breakthroughs he needed to decipher the meanings behind the words.
So, I can’t definitively say that the word “water” was the first word ever used by humans, but (as befits one of the most basic prerequisites for life) it certainly has one of the longest histories of continuous use. I find it deeply satisfying. ProjectXRay
If the evolution of my three children is any guide, the first word would have been: “No.” DaveinWallis
“Baker!” Michael J Day
“Thank you for your patience, our lines are very busy. Your call is important to us.” MichaelM12345
