The presence of the « Ta Ra » sound, DeXTeRity (« TouR de MaiN ») and RiGhT FoRM feature at the heart of all Indo-European and Semitic languages is not surprising. Indeed, paleoanthropologists have long had the intuition that FLiNT KNaPPing must have been decisive in the emergence of language, as Kim Sterelny and Ronald Planer brilliantly summarized in their book From Signal to Symbol.

In a nutshell, the great leap forward in flint knapping is called the Acheulean and is characterized by symmetrical, TeaRDRoP-ShaPed flints known as BiFaCes, which were first studied in France in 1872, at St Acheul near Amiens. These bifaces appeared in Africa around 1,700,000 years ago and this TeChNique lasted for 1,500,000 years.

I don't know if you GRaSP what it's like to PReSeRVe and pass on a technique for more than a million years: the scale of this time frame explains why the shape of the biface, this « Right Form », FaSCiNated our ancestors to such an extent that it features at the heart of language.

Unlike the flints of the previous generation, the Oldowian, which could be made quite easily in a few hours, the Acheulean is far more sophisticated and demanding. The force, direction and location of each blow need much sharper precision. Above all, the final result requires a SeRieS of well-executed, pre-planned moves. We’re back to our initial idea of the PRoCeDuRe: a series of elementary STePs, of iTeRations, to arrive at the « Right Form ».

Lastly, the sequence of BLoWs must also take into account the initial shape of the CoRe, the PieCe of flint from which the biface will be CaRVed. In other words, there's no magic bullet. Acheulean flint knapping requires a great deal of SKiLL and dexterity, a great « tour de main ».

This explains why, unlike the previous Oldowian techniques, Acheulean technique requires apprenticeship: the RiSK of iNJuRing your HaND or face with flint ChiPs is otherwise too great. But I'll come back to apprenticeship in a moment.

What Kim Sterelny and Ronald Planer make particularly clear in From Signal to Symbol is that this TeChNoLoGical evolution in flint knapping STRuCTuRes the evolution of human CoGNition, because it implies being able to PLaN and ConTRoL an ever longer, ever more RaMiFied SeQuence of intermediate TaSKs, while simultaneously improving FLuiDity and SPeeD of execution, and aDaPTing to the uNeXPeCTed. Fluidity, swift execution, handle the unexpected: here's to you, MaNaGers of French corporations ! 😉

Seriously though, this cognitive evolution then structures language into SeNTenCes, PRoPoSitions, SuBJeCTs, VeRBs and ComPLements. In short, everything STeMs from the TowRah and flint knapping: sharing, technology, cognition and, of course, language. In all instances, it's about getting to the « Right Form ».

Now you understand why « Ta Ra » appears in the semantic field of TRaNSMiSSion and LeaRNing: because these FLiNT KNaPPing and ChiPPing TeChNiques had to be TRaNS-mitted. The TowRah is the « RiGhT FoRM », but a rRight Form that is to be transmitted. The TowRah is iNSTRuCTion in the sense of being instructed, but also the instructions that lead to a Beautiful BiFaCe.

This idea of LeaRNing is also present in TaRaTs, which means answering a difficult question asked (for a MaSTeR), or in TaRGaM, which means to TRaNSLaTe. It is also found, of course, in the Enuma Elish, where « Ta Ra » generally has the meaning of instruction, oRDeRs and RiTes, whether in Tablet II, verse 127 with muTiRRu the heiR, or in Tablet III.35 with TeRetusha, your orders, VI.45 TeReʔeti, his orders, VII.6, then again in verse 106 again, instructions, and in verse 78, rites.

In the Palaeolithic, people learned to carve flint very early on. Children played with the ReMaiNs, surrounded by their brothers, sisters, cousins and parents. PaTeR and MaTeR who passed on the TRaDition. And this brings me to the fundamental -TeR suffix in Indo-European languages.

Remember, we've already come across -TeR and -TéRos in the semantic field of sharing. But there's also -TèR in Greek, related to WoRK, and more generally -ToR, -aToR, -aTRiX in Latin, which we find in actors names - for example dictator, imperator, motor ... And on the contrary in the nouns of what is being acted, what is used to do something, in the suffixes -TRoN and -trum with for example TheaTeR.

This suffix is so central to Indo-European languages that it even embodied the deity MiThRa, the god of ConTRaCTs, who BiNDs men together - which in SaNSKRiT means « the FRieND », or, I would say, the Paraklet 😃. We also find it in ZaRaThuSTRa's Gathas, with the MáNTRan, the instructor, and the MáNTRas, sacred formulas often eNGRaVed on SToNes and, yes, « uTTeRed ».

It's even found in Egyptian with MeTeR, which means to witness something. And you'll see that what's so interesting about « Ra Ma Ta » is that these 3 consonants, and not just 2, have the same meanings in just about every languages.

To conclude on this theme of transmission, even if I'm spoiling a bit my next video, I absolutely have to mention the SūTRa, the transmitted TReaTiSes of Sanskrit literature, as well as hiSToRy and SToRies.

After going over Mithra and MáNTRa, who transmit, I can rebound on RaTaM in Hebrew, to haRNeSS, RaTaQ, to DeTaCh or aTTaCh, and RaTaK, to WeLD, to MeLT. All these words are related to attachment and detachment - something we've already seen with NoTaR, and also with MuTaR, which means permitted, but also detached.

Of course this meaning appears also in Greek with ... MiTRa, BeLT - or, to be a bit more old fashioned (and French!), CeinTuRe – that one attaches and detaches. The CeinTuRe is a very old object. It SuRRouNDs as well as attaches and detaches in its MiDDLe. This meaning is also found in the Ancient Egyptian MeTReT, meaning MiDDay. Midday is the CuT-off point in the MiDDLe of the solar CyCLe.

And look at that: we already have the 3 consonants « Ra Ta Ma », found in attachment, but also CeinTuRe and KeTeR, which SuRRouNDs, which BeLTs! When I tell you that France has been the eldest daughter of the Church for thousands of years, long before there was a Church, and long before there were Jews, do you understand what I mean?

Speaking of the ChuRCh, do you remember that passage in the Gospels where Christ explains that PeTeR's name is the foundation of his Church, his éKKLèSia - playing on the words PéTRos and PéTRa. Let's go over the immediately following verse:

« I will give you the Keys (KLéis) of the kingdom of HeaVeN (ouRaNos) »

Remember, we've already seen ouRaNos...

« and whatever you BiND on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you LooSe on earth shall be loosed in heaven »

I guess you're starting to get a glimpse of what the keys allude to. They are the KLéis of the éKKLèSia, the keys of the Paraklet. But what binds and looses? That's right: a CeinTuRe - our favorite MiTRa, which rhymes with PéTRos and PéTRa.

Yes, it's true that the word MiTRa doesn't appear in this verse, but it doesn't appear because, unfortunately, by the time the Gospels were written down, decades after Christ's death, those closest to him had already forgotten the sound and the word of Christ : all they were left with was the meaning, overburdened with symbols and mysticism. The same thing happened with LoGos, which replaced éiRô, in the well-known passage from John's Gospel that I've already reviewed for you.