EAN: 9781529411416

THE DAWN OF LANGUAGE - SVERKER JOHANSSON KARTON...

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 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

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