The Language Instinct: How the Mind Creates Language ~ Paperback ~ Steven Pinker

This book looks at one of the most fundamental of our species' distinguishing characteristics: the use of language. The author argues that our language abilities are part of our genetic inheritance, not a cultural artefact, bringing together Darwinian natural selection and Chomsky's linguistics. The author debunks many of the standard facts - the dozens of Eskimo words for snow, the belief that we think using language, that English is a logic-defying tongue - and shows that language is a basic human instinct.Table of ContentsAn instinct to acquire and art; chatterboxes; mentalese; how language works; words, words, words; the sounds of silence; talking heads; the Tower of Babel; baby born talking - describes heaven; language organs and grammar genes; the Big Bang; the language mavens; mind design.Author BiographySteven Pinker is a best-selling author and Professor of Psychology and Director of the Center for cognitive Neuroscience at MIT.