Definition & Meaning of "bow-wow theory"

What is the "bow-wow theory"?

The bow-wow theory is one of the speculative explanations for the origin of language, suggesting that human language developed from imitations of natural sounds. This theory proposes that early humans created words by mimicking the sounds associated with objects, actions, or animals, such as the bark of a dog or the sound of a rushing river. According to this idea, these imitative sounds eventually evolved into more complex forms of communication. While the bow-wow theory offers an interesting perspective on how language might have originated, it is not widely accepted as a comprehensive explanation for the development of human language.