The Language Instinct: How The Mind Creates Language

Steven Pinker

Harper Collins, Dec 14, 2010 - Language Arts & Disciplines - 576 pages

The classic book on the development of human language by the world’s leading expert on language and the mind.

In this classic, the world's expert on language and mind lucidly explains everything you always wanted to know about language: how it works, how children learn it, how it changes, how the brain computes it, and how it evolved. With deft use of examples of humor and wordplay, Steven Pinker weaves our vast knowledge of language into a compelling story: language is a human instinct, wired into our brains by evolution. The Language Instinct received the William James Book Prize from the American Psychological Association and the Public Interest Award from the Linguistics Society of America. This edition includes an update on advances in the science of language since The Language Instinct was first published.

What people are saying

LibraryThing Review

User Review  - mrgan - LibraryThing

A classic of popular (and at times, fairly academic) linguistics. The ideal gift for someone with an interest in language who's tired of hearing nothing about it in the mainstream but arguments over "proper" English and word origin fairy tales.

LibraryThing Review

User Review  - Razinha - LibraryThing

This is listed as one of the New Scientist Top 25 Most Influential Popular Science books. The thesis is solid...the execution burdensome. Here's a thought: make a point; reinforce a point; if at that ...

Contents

• An Instinct to Acquire an: 3
• Chatterboxes: 12
• Mentalese: 44
• How Language Works: 74
• Words Words Words: 119
• The Sounds of Silence: 153
• Talking Heads: 190
• The Tower of Babel: 231
• Baby Born TalkingDescribes Heaven: 265
• Language Organs and Grammar Genes: 302
• The Big Bang: 340
• The Language Mavens: 382
• Mind Design: 419
• Notes: 449
• References: 469
• Glossary: 503
• Index: 517

About the author

One of Time magazine's "100 Most Influential People in the World Today," Steven Pinker is the author of seven books, including How the Mind Works and The Blank Slate—both Pulitzer Prize finalists and winners of the William James Book Award. He is an award-winning researcher and teacher, and a frequent contributor to Time and the New York Times.

Bibliographic information

• Title: The Language Instinct: How The Mind Creates Language
• Author: Steven Pinker
• Publisher: Harper Collins, 2010
• ISBN: 0062032526, 9780062032522
• Length: 576 pages
• Subjects: Language Arts & Disciplines / Communication Studies; Language Arts & Disciplines / Linguistics / Psycholinguistics; Science / Philosophy & Social Aspects