The “bow-wow” theory is a hypothesis about the origin of human language that suggests early humans developed speech by imitating the natural sounds they heard in their environment. According to this theory, words originated as imitative sounds—such as “bow-wow” for a dog’s bark, “moo” for a cow, or “splash” for water.
This theory falls under onomatopoeia, where words resemble the sounds they describe. However, it has been criticized for its inability to explain abstract words or grammatical structures, making it an incomplete explanation for the development of language.