Download How Language Began: The Story of Humanity's Greatest Invention AudioBook Free

Mankind has a distinct edge over other terrestrial varieties: we speak to each other. But how did we acquire the most advanced form of communication on Earth? Daniel L. Everett, a "bombshell" linguist and "instant folk hero" (Tom Wolfe, Harper's), provides in this sweeping record a comprehensive study of the evolutionary report of words, from the earliest speaking efforts by hominids to the more than 7,000 languages which exist today. Although fossil hunters and linguists have helped bring us nearer to unearthing the true origins of words, Daniel Everett's discoveries have upended the modern-day linguistic world, reverberating far beyond academics circles. While performing field research in the Amazonian rainforest, Everett came across an age-old words nestled among a tribe of hunter-gatherers. Challenging long-standing guidelines in the field, Everett now develops on the idea that language was not intrinsic to our species. In order to truly understand its origins, a more interdisciplinary approach is necessary - one which accounts the maximum amount of for our propensity for culture as it can our biological makeup.

Category: Linguistics