Read and Download eBook Full
Author: Merritt Ruhlen
Publisher: Stanford University Press
Published: 1994
Total Pages: 364
ISBN-13: 9780804728058
DOWNLOAD EBOOKArguing that the prevailing conception of historical linguistics is flawed, the author presents a series of linguistic studies which demonstrate that all extant human languages share a common origin.
Author: Daniel L. Everett
Publisher: Liveright Publishing
Published: 2017-11-07
Total Pages: 309
ISBN-13: 087140477X
DOWNLOAD EBOOKA Buzzfeed Gift Guide Selection “Few books on the biological and cultural origin of humanity can be ranked as classics. I believe [this] will be one of them.” — Edward O. Wilson At the time of its publication, How Language Began received high acclaim for capturing the fascinating history of mankind’s most incredible creation. Deemed a “bombshell” linguist and “instant folk hero” by Tom Wolfe (Harper’s), Daniel L. Everett posits that the near- 7,000 languages that exist today are not only the product of one million years of evolution but also have allowed us to become Earth’s apex predator. Tracing 60,000 generations, Everett debunks long- held theories across a spectrum of disciplines to affi rm the idea that we are not born with an instinct for language. Woven with anecdotes of his nearly forty years of fi eldwork amongst Amazonian hunter- gatherers, this is a “completely enthralling” (Spectator) exploration of our humanity and a landmark study of what makes us human. “[An] ambitious text. . . . Everett’s amiable tone, and especially his captivating anecdotes . . . , will help the neophyte along.”— New York Times Book Review
Author: Merritt Ruhlen
Publisher: Harvard Oriental Series - Opera Minora
Published: 2023
Total Pages: 0
ISBN-13: 9781463244958
DOWNLOAD EBOOKWhat can the classification of languages tell us about human origins and human prehistory? This book presents a popular account of the origin of language. It is intended for an audience with no prior knowledge of comparative linguistics, genetics or archaeology. The present volume is a reprint of the 2009 second edition of the book, and includes the text of the first edition (1994) with minor modifications, as well as the scientific evidence for monogenesis, and a Postscript recounting developments in the field since the original publication of the book.
Author: Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Published: 2012-04-26
Total Pages: 187
ISBN-13: 0226923282
DOWNLOAD EBOOKThis volume combines Rousseau's essay on the origin of diverse languages with Herder's essay on the genesis of the faculty of speech. Rousseau's essay is important to semiotics and critical theory, as it plays a central role in Jacques Derrida's book Of Grammatology, and both essays are valuable historical and philosophical documents.
Author: Christine Kenneally
Publisher: Penguin
Published: 2007-07-19
Total Pages: 376
ISBN-13: 1101202394
DOWNLOAD EBOOKAn accessible exploration of a burgeoning new field: the incredible evolution of language The first popular book to recount the exciting, very recent developments in tracing the origins of language, The First Word is at the forefront of a controversial, compelling new field. Acclaimed science writer Christine Kenneally explains how a relatively small group of scientists that include Noam Chomsky and Steven Pinker assembled the astounding narrative of how the fundamental process of evolution produced a linguistic ape-in other words, us. Infused with the wonder of discovery, this vital and engrossing book offers us all a better understanding of the story of humankind.
Author: Min K. Kim
Publisher: North Pole Lighthouse
Published: 2020-02-28
Total Pages: 301
ISBN-13: 1950132226
DOWNLOAD EBOOKThe Birth of Language tackles one of the most difficult topics known to mankind, the origin of language. Kim shares his experiences of learning English as a second language after moving to the United States as a teenager. He then discusses Noam Chomsky's theories on language. Through a groundbreaking idea, Kim gives readers a demonstration of a method for potentially unifying all human languages, giving substantial support to Chomsky's theory of universal grammar (UG). Written for the general public and young readers, The Birth of Language is a must-read for people looking for the next big intellectual discovery.
Author: W. Tecumseh Fitch
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Published: 2010-04
Total Pages: 625
ISBN-13: 052185993X
DOWNLOAD EBOOKThis book brings together the most important insights from the vast amount of literature on the origin of language.
Author: Robert Mailhammer
Publisher: Museum Tusculanum Press
Published: 2015-11-06
Total Pages: 362
ISBN-13: 8763542099
DOWNLOAD EBOOKMost of us know of the Indo-European roots of European languages, but how did this precursor language take hold and what did Europe look like before it did so? This book explores the continent before the spread of the Indo-Europeans, examines its indigenous population and the contacts it had with Indo-European and Uralic immigrants, and, ultimately, asks how these origins led to the development of that crucial singularity for Europe’s languages. Drawing on archaeology, religious studies, and palaeography, the contributors offer a detailed and comprehensive picture of Europe’s linguistic and, in turn, cultural prehistory.
Author: James R. Hurford
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Published: 2014-03
Total Pages: 182
ISBN-13: 0198701888
DOWNLOAD EBOOKThis book offers an accessible overview of what is known about the evolution of the human capacity for language and what sets human language apart from the simple communication systems used by non-human animals. It draws on a wide range of disciplines, including philosophy, neuroscience, genetics, and animal behaviour.
Author: Morris Swadesh
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2017-09-04
Total Pages: 405
ISBN-13: 1351478028
DOWNLOAD EBOOKMorris Swadesh, one of this century's foremost scientific investigators of language, dedicated much of his life to the study of the origin and evolution of language. This volume, left nearly completed at his death and edited posthumously by Joel F. Sherzer, is his last major study of this difficult subject.Swadesh discusses the simple qualities of human speech also present in animal language, and establishes distinctively human techniques of expression by comparing the common features that are found in modern and ancient languages. He treats the diversification of language not only by isolating root words in different languages, but also by dealing with sound systems, with forms of composition, and with sentence structure. In so doing, he demonstrates the evidence for the expansion of all language from a single central area. Swadesh supports his hypothesis by ""exhibits"" that conveniently present the evidence in tabular form. Further clarity is provided by the use of a suggestive practical phonetic system, intelligible to the student as well as to the professional.The book also contains an Appendix, in which the distinguished ethnographer of language, Dell Hymes, gives a valuable account of the prewar linguistic tradition within which Swadesh did some of his most important work.
