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Language by Daniel L. Everett

Language

The Cultural Tool

Daniel L. Everett

Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group · Print & ebook · December 11, 2012

“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.

SociolinguisticsCultural AnthropologyPhilosophy of Languageculture
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psychology
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Who it’s for
A cross-disciplinary argument for language as a human tool, shaped by society and experience.
Themes
Language and society, Evolution of language, Language and human thought
Genres
Sociolinguistics, Cultural Anthropology, Philosophy of Language

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About this book

“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.

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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.

Language in Context

A cross-disciplinary argument for language as a human tool, shaped by society and experience.

Come here for

  • Questions about whether language is innate or made
  • Connections between grammar, culture, and human variety

Expect

  • A layered argument drawing on several fields
  • Everett’s research with the Pirahã among its foundations

Where it sits

Sociolinguistics50%
Cultural Anthropology38%
Philosophy of Language34%

Percentages are BookFrontier’s reading of the book.

Publisher categories

  • Historical Linguistics
  • Sociolinguistics
  • How We Think & Learn
Authors
Daniel L. Everett
Publisher
Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
Published
December 11, 2012
Format
Print & ebook
Theme
Language and society · Evolution of language · Language and human thought
Reading lane
Historical Linguistics