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The Dawn of Language
The story of how we came to talk
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The Dawn of Language
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Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?
An erudite, tightly woven and beautifully written account of one of humanity's greatest mysteries - the origins of language.
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Description
"A model of popular-science writing" - STEVEN POOLE
Who was "the first speaker" and what was their first message?
An erudite, tightly woven and beautifully written account of one of humanity's greatest mysteries—the origins of language.
Drawing on evidence from many fields, including archaeology, anthropology, neurology, and linguistics, Sverker Johansson weaves these disparate threads together to show how our human ancestors evolved into language users. The Dawn of Language provides a fascinating survey of how grammar came into being and the differences or similarities between languages spoken around the world, before exploring how language eventually emerged in the very remote human past.
Our intellectual and physiological changes through the process of evolution both have a bearing on our ability to acquire language. But to what extent is the evolution of language dependent on genes, or on the environment? How has language evolved further, and how is it changing now, in the process of globalisation? And which aspects of language ensure that robots are not yet intelligent enough to reconstruct how language has evolved?
Johansson's far-reaching, authoritative, and research-based approach to language is brought to life through dozens of astonishing examples, both human and animal, in a fascinatingly erudite and entertaining volume for anyone who has ever contemplated not just why we speak the way we do, but why we speak at all.
Translated from the Swedish by Frank Perry
Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?
Elegantly written and intellectually thrilling, The Dawn of Language is praised as a model of popular-science writing, balancing competing ideas with reason. It offers a fascinating narrative and an educational journey that provides insights into the evolution of human language, with Sverker Johansson's enthusiastic writing style making the complex topic both engaging and enlightening.
Book Details
INFORMATION
ISBN: 9781529411416
Publisher: Quercus Publishing
Format: Paperback / softback
Date Published: 01 September 2022
Country: United Kingdom
Imprint: MacLehose Press
Contributors:
- Translated by Frank Perry
- Translated by Frank Perry
Audience: General / adult
DIMENSIONS
Spine width: 32.0mm
Width: 128.0mm
Height: 198.0mm
Weight: 302g
Pages: 432
About the Author
SVERKER JOHANSSON, Doctor of Philosophy in Physics and Master of Philosophy in Linguistics, was born 1961 in Lund in the southern parts of Sweden. He is a senior advisor at Dalarna University, has conducted research at CERN in Switzerland and participated in EVOLANG, the leading international conference for research on the origins and evolution of language, since 2006.
Through a bot that he programmed, Lsjbot, Johansson is behind an estimated 8% of all articles on Swedish Wikipedia, covering everything from fungi to municipalities in the Philippines.More from Philosophy & Psychology
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