Bow-wow theory

The bow-wow theory is an old idea about how language developed. It says that people started talking like dogs bark, by just going "bow-wow". Then, over time, with practice, people whispered or shouted different sounds like "meow" or "moo" to communicate with each other. Eventually, these little noises turned into words and sentences, and we got the language we use today. It's like when you make a game and start out using just simple rules. Eventually, you add some new rules so the game is more fun and challenging. That's kind of like what happened with language.