Why Are There Many Languages?
Different languages developed in different parts of the world because there was no inter-communication between people in different communities, and each was really developing a language for itself. In doing so they developed their language without knowing that other communities were working out the same problems for themselves. So they first developed their own sign and gesture language and later on their word or sound language and kept on using it. While they may thus have developed the use of some of the same signs and sounds or combination of sounds to express one thing perfectly understandable to themselves, these sounds or combinations of sounds might mean something entirely different to another community, where that particular sound or combination of sounds may have been hit upon to mean something entirely different.
Of course, not all languages were developed in this way. There are, you know, a great many languages used in the world. Some of them are offshoots of others, where part of a community moved to another part of the world, taking their language with them, but developing it further along new lines, and using new combinations of sounds for new words. Then also, there are many words which mean the same thing in different languages and are spoken with practically the same sounds. This is due to the movement of people from one nation to another and bringing their own words with them, so to speak. In many instances a stranger would come to another nation, and use his own word for expressing a certain thing and that would eventually be taken up and used as a better word, and the old word dropped. It is strange that this should be true, but this accounts for the fact that many words are the same in sound and meaning in numerous languages.