monogenesis (n.)

In HISTORICAL LINGUISTICS, the hypothesis that all human LANGUAGES originate from a single source; contrasts with polygenesis, where language is thought to have emerged more or less spontaneously in several places. The terms are also used in discussing the similarities among PIDGINS and CREOLES: monogenetic theories assume the diffusion of a single pidgin to other areas via migration; polygenetic theories assume that the development of a pidgin in one community is independent of the development of a pidgin in another.