"A brilliant, witty, and altogether satisfying book." — New York Times Book Review
The classic work on the development of human language by the world’s leading expert on language and the mind
In The Language Instinct, 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.
Author(s): Pinker, Steven
Edition: Reprint
Publisher: Harper Collins, Inc.
Year: 2010
Language: English
Pages: 546
Contents
Preface
1. An Instinct to Acquire an Art
2. Chatterboxes
3. Mentalese
4. How Language Works
5. Words, Words, Words
6. The Sounds of Silence
7. Talking Heads
8. The Tower of Babel
9. Baby Born Talking—Describes Heaven
10. Language Organs and Grammar Genes
11. The Big Bang
12. The Language Mavens
13. Mind Design
Notes
References
Glossary
Searchable Terms
P.S. Insights, Interviews & More…
About the Author
Praise
Other Books by Steven Pinker
Credits
Copyright
About the Publisher