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I can see how different grunts could come to mean “bear”, “deer” or “run”. But how do grammatically complex languages get their cases and declensions? (continued)

Guy Cox
Sydney, Australia

I am a biologist, not a linguist, but I have to think that the first step was to develop singular and plural. Knowing whether there is one wolf or a pack attacking is obviously useful, as is knowing whether there is one apple or many on a tree. The next step is the genitive possessive: that is Alice’s melon, that is Bob’s mango. To go further requires verbs, and therefore…