The origin of human language is truly secret and marvellous wrote Jacob Grimm in 1851 The marvellous secret has long proved a launch pad for strange ideas Primitive man was likely to make sounds like meuh when sensing danger claimed Charles Caller in 1928 Meuh has a plaintive sound The human who wandered over a hostile land inhabited by awesome beasts uttered desperate noises and languages have preserved some echo of his lamentation such as malaria meaning fever or the Latin mors meaning death