The language instinct ebook

Funny, ridiculing, forceful and gets the message across. His metaphors are really good. Aspire to this. Language is built into the mind. It evolved by natural selection. It is Very interesting. It is not a cultural artifact. Perfect english is a collection of rules that were sold to allow new wealth from the industrial revolution seem classy. Quotes: "Simply by making noises with our mouths, we can reliably cause precise new combinations of ideas to arise in each other's minds.

Instead, it is a distinct piece of the biological makeup of our brains. Language is a complex, specialized skill, which develops in the child spontaneously, without conscious effort or formal instruction, is deployed without awareness of its underlying logic, is quantitatively the same in every individual, and is distinct from more general abilities to process information or behave intelligently.

Gonads and brains are attached to each other in bodies, so when bodies move, genes and grammars move together. That is the only reason that geneticists find any correlation between the two. So genes that strengthen young organisms at the expense of old organisms have the odds in their favor and will tend to accumulate over evolutionary timespans, whatever the bodily system, and the result is overall senescence.

And a cognitive arms race clearly could propel a linguistic one. Ina ll cultures, social interactions are mediated by persuasion and argument Mar 25, Eliza rated it liked it Shelves: 3-stars , nonfiction , owned , reviewed.

Honestly, I wouldn't have picked it up had it not been for my linguistics class - but i did learn about how languages formed, so in a way, it was pretty interesting. Nothing remarkable, though. There were some parts of this that were interesting and worth reading for, but overall it was a waffly and long winded book that I struggled to get through at some boring points.

Mar 18, Anthony Buckley rated it it was amazing Shelves: language , useful , anthropology. I had always supposed that linguists could not write clearly. Here, however, I discover my prejudices overturned. In much the same way as they are programmed to learn, at appropriate ages, to walk, to tell jokes and to have sex, so people have an innate ability to learn to speak correctly. The book therefore doubles as a textbook for a first year linguistics student and a good general introduction for a mildly interested beginner for somebody like me.

It is also a polemical book, for Pinker is not afraid to ride hobby horses and proclaim his own vision of the one true linguistics. He delves into the mysteries of Chomskyan deep structure, explaining that the grammar of particular languages are constructed from the inbuilt language-structure that is common to every person and every language.

He defies the linguistic relativism associated with the names of Sapir and Whorf. He explains how people and animals think without having a language. He tells the story of deaf children in Nicaragua who were thrown together with older children who knew bits and pieces of sign language from a variety of sources, but who, from these bits and pieces, were able to construct a sign language as coherent as any other.

He casts doubt on the supposed ability of monkeys and whales to speak human languages. He explores the biology that explains — or might explain — the instinct for speaking. He opposes those who fight endless wars against the split infinitive, the greengrocer's apostrophe and the final participle, claiming that their own version of English is the only correct one. And he does much more. The book is, in short, informative and intelligent.

It is also a lot of fun. Having just read this one, I am not at all surprised. This book is an excellent introduction into linguistics and language-related scientific fields such as psycholinguistics, evolutionary linguistics, learning theory, etc , for someone like me who has been fascinated by the subject for a long time, but only had the chance to dabble a toe or two into one sub-area or another.

It corrects many popular misconceptions about language and language learning, from the point of view of the author, based on the latest scientific concensus at the time the bo This book is an excellent introduction into linguistics and language-related scientific fields such as psycholinguistics, evolutionary linguistics, learning theory, etc , for someone like me who has been fascinated by the subject for a long time, but only had the chance to dabble a toe or two into one sub-area or another.

It also presents Chomsky's hypothesis of Universal Grammar, which is a set of rules thought to be the backbone of all human languages, regardless of their apparent phonetics, vocabulary or grammatical rules, and a mirror image of the brain structures that might have evolved to allow complex language parsing and construction, as well as acquiring the native language during childhood. Considering Steven Pinker's simple and beautiful style, as well as clear and direct explanations for the most part , I am certainly looking forward to reading the rest of his books.

Jan 01, Krish rated it it was amazing. Main takeaways: - Language is an innate skill possessed by humans and not acquired artificially through teaching like writing, programming, etc. Beyond this age, it has to be artificially acquired like a second language. Each language follows the super-rules of this grammar but has its own values for the variable parameters depending on various cultural and environmental factors. Rules like "don't end a sentence with a preposition" and "use whom instead of who" are bookishly enforced and serve no practical purpose.

But it is already much better than people think it is. That is because writing systems do not aim to represent the actual sounds of talking, which we do not hear, but the abstract units of language underlying them, which we do hear.

I so so so wanted to like this book. I took one linguistics class and did a number of rhetoric classes so I thought that I would find this book accessible. I did not. I recognize the Chomsky language trees.

I did see why the trees were so important to discuss top and bottom sentences and to prove how all humans are hardwired for language so that babies simply learn if their family speaks top or bottom sentences and SVO or some other construction. Yet all human languaget is obviously human. I get I so so so wanted to like this book. I get that. I wonder why Pinker wrote such a detailed argument, so detailed that my attention derailed, and I cannot read one more page of this book.

So why 3 stars when I seem to hate this book? I do not hate the book. I am frustrated by the details. I plan to retern to this book at a later date and to read one chapter at a time and then put the book away for a month and then repeat the process until I complete the book. I am simply on information overload.

I will re-read this book and fully intend to rate it 4 or 5 stars. I don't know if I would've enjoyed this book half as much had I not listened to the audiobook, but it was a pleasant commute read. Jun 12, May rated it it was amazing. I just finished reading the most challenging non-fiction leisure book I have ever read: Steven Pinker's The Language Instinct. It was a close call, but I'm relieved that I powered through.

Before I dive into my review, I'd like to clarify that I found it challenging not because my knowledge of linguistics prior to reading this book was terribly basic, but rather because there is so much information packed into The Language Instinct.

That is, however, its greatest merit - and the reason why my min I just finished reading the most challenging non-fiction leisure book I have ever read: Steven Pinker's The Language Instinct.

That is, however, its greatest merit - and the reason why my mind was being blown after every chapter. In The Language Instinct, Pinker argues that humans' ability to acquire language is not dependant on education or imitation. Rather, it's instinctual. It's "wired into our brains by evolution.

It made a bush. That's why computers will never be able to learn language the way a child could, and also why apes will never be able to speak English or Learn American Sign Language. Indeed, Pinker's research shows that those who claimed that laboratory apes' gestures resembled sign language were actually overanalyzing what they observed. Of course, there are many Darwinists out there who would shake their heads at such a thought Pinker, however, is pretty convincing. All it would take, however, is the discovery of an evolved trait for an aesthetic, and not pragmatic, purpose, to defy the theory of natural selection.

Anyway - because Pinker is trying to prove that language is an instinct, he begins at the roots of language acquisition. There is a lot of research on children. Such research is especially interesting when Pinker discusses 'creoles,' mother tongues that are developed as a result of several languages meshed together. The possibility of such 'meshing' suggests that an universal grammar underlies all language.

The existence of a "universal grammar," however, would not wholly verify that language is an instinct. After all, we have words for 'water' not because our DNA dictates it but because we need to refer to water.

Neither is there a 'grammar gene - an American-born Chinese can just as easily learn English as his or her American peers. So, it seems that "complexity in the mind is not caused by learning; learning is caused by complexity in the mind. Pinker argues that there is no reason to look down upon primitive dialects because primitive cultures have complex language systems and, after all, a language is also a dialect - just one with "an army and a navy.

For example, language mavens will argue that "Who did you see" should be "Whom did you see" or at least "Which person did you see" according to the rules of grammar.

Yet can you imagine, Pinker asks, saying something like "Whom did you sound like? The Language Instinct is an enlightening read that leaves reader with a deeper understanding, and growing curiosity, of language. Pinker writes in a clear and sometimes almost conversational way that renders a PhD-worthy subject into one that general audiences can grasp. Of course, certain sections are utterly perplexing and almost impossible to retain.

Above all, however, Pinker convincingly presents the thesis that language - contrary to what many believe - is instinctual. As he says, "this is news. Factoids: - We are told that a noun is the most important part of a sentence because it is the doer; however, a noun cannot operate without verb. So, the verb is the boss of a sentence - Mentalese: the hypothetical "language of thought, or representation of concepts and propositions in the brain in which ideas, including the meanings of words and sentences, are couched.

All word roots, irregular forms and idioms are listemes. Now, this is especially fascinating when we consider words such as frobbing, twiddling and tweaking. To frob is to move a dial or switch by drastically adjusting its range; to twiddle is to adjust the switch by a smaller margin; to tweak is to adjust the switch by only a litte.

Interestingly, it's always the word with the high front vowel that goes first in expressions such as ping-pong and chit-chat. Hip-hop, flip-flop, the list goes on The french aller, however, does the deed in one word. Nov 04, Alatea rated it really liked it. I usually "go with the feeling" when I review books, so it's really difficult to review non-fiction. But I'll try anyway. The language history was an easy, but satisfying popular-science read.

I highly recommend it to everyone who is interested in linguistics or language in general. Apr 17, Zsa Zsa rated it really liked it. Mar 08, Elena rated it really liked it. I really-really like my readings about languages English and my native Russian , never bored with them, and this particular book was a treat.

Pinker is entertaining as he explains the basic tenets of language development for laypeople or beginning students of linguistics. He argues that humans do indeed have an instinct for language - for grammar, to be specific - unparalleled in other species, as one-of-a-kind as the elephant's trunk. This instinct driven by nature prevails over environmental or nuturing factors, though one can't take that argument too literally.

Obviously, whether a baby speaks English or Zulu is determined by the f Pinker is entertaining as he explains the basic tenets of language development for laypeople or beginning students of linguistics. Obviously, whether a baby speaks English or Zulu is determined by the family and community, but many so-called "mistakes" children make in grammar are proof of the brain's perseverance in calculating sentences correctly.

My main disagreement with Pinker's argument relates to the beloved pasttime of descriptive linguists to bash "the language mavens" - i. He is right that language is man-made; it is always changing and always will change. Every big change creates a dialect and no dialect is "wrong" or "right. However, to argue that all languages change and therefore no one should care one way or another what is spoken where or when is dangerously libertine, for it ignores the significance of social subtlety and the value of skilled oratory and writing.

If one uses a youth dialect variant at a job interview or a conference with the word "like" inserted before every adjective, verb, and noun, "it will kill the pathos," as a professor of mine once said. Likewise, if one uses the Queen's English at a rave, you will be kindly asked to remove the pole from thine ass, and rightly so. Some professors have dismissed Pinker's book as pop science, whereas others are of course excited about his giving the subject popular appeal.

I've taken courses on linguistics, but I'm not a linguist, so I found it to be neither patronizing nor elite. Jan 22, Cassandra Kay Silva rated it it was amazing Shelves: science. Pinker is a fabulous author and has an interesting story to tell with this one. His premise is that much of what we consider to be learned in our early years as children,through practice with language, is actually pre hardwired in our brains as in an almost universal understanding of syntax that can get laid out in a number of different languages in a number of different ways.

That the ways humans have developed to think of the world is inherent in our understanding of this language. I don't kno Pinker is a fabulous author and has an interesting story to tell with this one. I don't know if he made enough "hard" or solid arguments for me to buy into this completely.

I don't know if he answered fully my objections to his argument. One being that could humans not have been able to pick up on patterns locally in their environment instead of this having to be factored in? The only really good counterargument to this would have been his description of deaf children and their own "invented" signs when not taught this initially. I would have like to have heard more of this but was still very impressed overall with the author and what he was trying to accomplish with this work and would definitely pick up another book of his.

Readers also enjoyed. About Steven Pinker. Steven Pinker. Steven Arthur Pinker is a prominent Canadian-American experimental psychologist, cognitive scientist, and author of popular science.

Pinker is known for his wide-ranging explorations of human nature and its relevance to language, history, morality, politics, and everyday life.

He conducts research on language and cognition, writes for publications such as the New York Times, Time, and The New Repu Steven Arthur Pinker is a prominent Canadian-American experimental psychologist, cognitive scientist, and author of popular science. He was born in Canada and graduated from Montreal's Dawson College in He received a bachelor's degree in experimental psychology from McGill University in , and then went on to earn his doctorate in the same discipline at Harvard in Except for a one-year sabbatical at the University of California, Santa Barbara in Pinker was named one of Time Magazine's most influential people in the world in and one of Prospect and Foreign Policy's top public intellectuals in He was twice a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, in and in In January , Pinker defended Lawrence Summers, President of Harvard University, whose comments about the gender gap in mathematics and science angered much of the faculty.

On May 13th , Pinker received the American Humanist Association's Humanist of the Year award for his contributions to public understanding of human evolution. In , he was invited on The Colbert Report and asked under pressure to sum up how the brain works in five words — Pinker answered "Brain cells fire in patterns. He has said, "I was never religious in the theological sense I never outgrew my conversion to atheism at 13, but at various times was a serious cultural Jew.

His father, a trained lawyer, first worked as a traveling salesman, while his mother was first a home-maker then a guidance counselor and high-school vice-principal.

He has two younger siblings. His brother is a policy analyst for the Canadian government. Pinker married Nancy Etcoff in and they divorced ; he married Ilavenil Subbiah in and they too divorced.

He is married to the novelist and philosopher Rebecca Goldstein, the author of 10 books and winner of the National Medal of the Humanities. He has no children. His next book will take off from his research on "common knowledge" knowing that everyone knows something. Books by Steven Pinker. Related Articles. Need another excuse to treat yourself to a new book this week?

We've got you covered with the buzziest new releases of the day. No one believes that the Roman Senate sat down one day to design the complex system that is Latin grammar, and few believe, these days, in the literal.

What is it about the human mind that accounts for the fact that we can speak and understand a language? And what does this tell us about the rest of human abilities? Recent dramatic discoveries in linguistics and psychology provide intriguing answers to these age-old mysteries. In this fascinating book, Ray Jackendoff emphasizes the grammatical commonalities across languages, both spoken and signed, and discusses the implications for our understanding of language acquisition.

Don't blame the internet, he says, good writing has always been hard. It requires imagination, taking pleasure in reading, overcoming the difficult we all have in imaging what it's like to not know something we do know.

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