Language - by Daniel L Everett (Paperback)

About the Book

A bold and provocative study that presents language not as an innate component of the brain--as most linguists do--but as an essential tool unique to each culture worldwide. For years, the prevailing opinion among academics has been that language is embedded in our genes, existing as an innate and instinctual part of us. But linguist Daniel Everett argues that, like other tools, language was invented by humans and can be reinvented or lost. He shows how the evolution of different language forms--that is, different grammar--reflects how language is influenced by human societies and experiences, and how it expresses their great variety. For example, the Amazonian Pirahaa put words together in ways that violate our long-held under-standing of how language works, and Pirahaa grammar expresses complex ideas very differently than English grammar does. Drawing on the Wari' language of Brazil, Everett explains that speakers of all languages, in constructing their stories, omit things that all members of the culture understand. In addition, Everett discusses how some cultures can get by without words for numbers or counting, without verbs for "to say" or "to give," illustrating how the very nature of what's important in a language is culturally determined. Combining anthropology, primatology, computer science, philosophy, linguistics, psychology, and his own pioneering--and adventurous--research with the Amazonian Pirahaa, and using insights from many different languages and cultures, Everett gives us an unprecedented elucidation of this society-defined nature of language. In doing so, he also gives us a new understanding of how we think and who we are.

Book Synopsis

"The most important--and provocative--anthropological fieldwork ever undertaken." --Tom Wolfe

For years, the prevailing opinion among academics has been that language is embedded in our genes, existing as an innate and instinctual part of us. In this bold and provocative study, linguist Daniel Everett argues that, like other tools, language was invented by humans and can be reinvented or lost. He shows how the evolution of different language forms--that is, different grammar--reflects how language is influenced by human societies and experiences, and how it expresses their great variety. Combining anthropology, primatology, computer science, philosophy, linguistics, psychology, and his own pioneering research with the Amazonian Pirahã, and using insights from many different languages and cultures, Everett presents an unprecedented elucidation of this society-defined nature of language. In doing so, he also gives us a new understanding of how we think and who we are.

Review Quotes

"Full of intellectually omnivorous insights and reminiscences about Everett's years with the Pirahã . . . [Language] is that rare thing: a warm linguistics book." --The New York Times Book Review

"The most important--and provocative--anthropological fieldwork ever undertaken." --Tom Wolfe

"Revelatory. There is nothing about humans that is quite as astonishing as language."--The Guardian

"A book whose importance is almost impossible to overstate. This is an intellectual cri de coeur and a profound celebration of human diversity. . . . Very rich but also very readable."--The Sunday Times (London)

"[Language] is that rare thing: a warm linguistics book . . . A useful study of a burgeoning theory compatible with Darwinism, anthropology, psychology and philosophy--an interdisciplinary orientation the Chomskyans have largely spurned."--The New York Times Book Review

"[Language] deserves a serious reading." --The Economist

"Readers' eyes will . . . sparkle with new insight." --Kirkus Reviews

"Everett's stories of the Pirahã . . . bring to life the culture that fosters the language. The stories also anchor his linguistic proposals in anthropology. Most linguists might take this as an insult; Everett would accept it as a compliment." --The Globe and Mail (Canada)

"[Everett lobs] a scientific grenade . . . into the spot where anthropology, linguistics and psychology meet: he asserts that the Piraha language exhibits traits that call into question aspects of linguistic theories that have been widely accepted for decades." --Chicago Tribune

"Everett writes simply and persuasively about language. . . . His courage and conviction should give linguists pause for thought." --The Observer (London)

About the Author

Daniel L. Everett is dean of arts and sciences at Bentley University. He has held appointments in linguistics and/or anthropology at the University of Campinas, the University of Pittsburgh, the University of Manchester, and Illinois State University.

www.daneverettbooks.com