Language and Species (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9780226046112)

Language and Species presents the most detailed and well-documented scenario to date of the origins of language. Drawing on "living linguistic fossils" such as "ape talk," the "two-word" stage of small children, and pidgin languages, and on recent discoveries in paleoanthropology, Bickerton shows how a primitive "protolanguage" could have offered Homo erectus a novel ecological niche. He goes on to demonstrate how this protolanguage could have developed into the languages we speak today.

"You are drawn into [Bickerton's] appreciation of the dominant role language plays not only in what we say, but in what we think and, therefore, what we are."--Robert Wright, New York Times Book Review

"The evolution of language is a fascinating topic, and Bickerton's Language and Species is the best introduction we have."--John C. Marshall, Nature


Author: Derek Bickerton
ISBN-10: 0226046117
ISBN-13: 9780226046112
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Language: English
Published: 04/15/1992
Pages: 305
Format: Paperback
Weight: 0.90lbs
Size: 9.00h x 5.99w x 0.78d