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Chapter Overview
Chapter 1: AudiobookHub Recommendation
Chapter 2: We are all born with an instinct for language.
Chapter 3: The common belief that language shapes how we see the world is wrong.
Chapter 4: Human language rests on two key principles.
Chapter 5: Grammar may steal the spotlight, but words are fascinating too.
Chapter 6: Our talent for understanding speech works like a sixth sense.
Chapter 7: We read and comprehend text because we are expert “parsers.”
Chapter 8: Childhood is a crucial window for growing our natural language abilities.
Chapter 9: Our instinct for language likely arose through evolution.
Chapter 10: Relax about perfect grammar – it’s more arbitrary than you realize.
Chapter 11: Knowing language is instinctive helps us probe how the brain really works.
Description
The Language Instinct (1994) provides an in-depth look into the origins and intricacies of language, offering both a crash course in linguistics and linguistic anthropology along the way. By examining our knack for language, the book makes the case that the propensity for language learning is actually hardwired into our brains.
Who Should Listen
- Anyone interested in linguistics
- People who want to know why Noam Chomsky is so famous
- Anyone who has ever been taken aback by how quickly their children learned to speak