OK, it’s really Murray Gell-Man talking at TED 2007. I was confused when the presenter said the guy possibly knew more about everything than anyone.

Anyway, you can see and hear what Murray (Maurice to his friends) has to say in about a common ancestor for languages in this video from TED 2007:

http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/view/id/276

This is an interesting perspective, though as all Irish people know, language begins and ends with James Joyce.

Check out the other videos there too.