The Language Instinct: How the Mind Creates Language
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Wuethrich, B. 2000. Learning the world’s languages—Before they vanish. Science 288 (5469): 1156–59.
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About the Author
The Johnstone Family Professor of Psychology at Harvard University, STEVEN PINKER has been named one of Time magazine’s “Hundred Most Important People in the World Today,” and has been awarded numerous prizes for his research, teaching, and books. He is the author of six books, including How the Mind Works and The Blank Slate (both Pulitzer Prize finalists and winners of the William James Book Prize), as well as Words and Rules and The Stuff of Thought. He is a frequent contributor to Time, The New Republic, and the New York Times.
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MORE PRAISE FOR
The Language Instinct
“Reading Steven Pinker’s book is one of the biggest favors I’ve ever done my brain. It is the sort of writing that any genuine expert on a subject longs to achieve: highly accessible to the general reader yet at the same time seminal for professionals. Laypeople will be gripped by a lucid and witty introduction to the fascinating subject of linguistics. Orthodox social scientists—and their biological fellow travelers—will find a formidable Darwinian challenge to their cherished dogmas. Word-pedants like me (or those who say ‘gender’ when they mean ‘sex’) will retreat chastened. Even if you disagree with it, you’ll surely be charmed and engaged by this brilliant work.”
—Richard Dawkins, author of The Selfish Gene
“A brilliant, witty, and altogether satisfying book…. Mr. Pinker has that facility, so rare among scientists, of making the most difficult material accessible to the average reader. Most important, he never talks down to the reader…. The fundamental unity of humanity is the theme of this exciting book. Arresting…amusing and instructive…a useful, compelling book.”
—New York Times Book Review
“Absorbing. He makes a persuasive, entertaining case for his thesis.”
—Time
“A remarkably engaging book. The book is packed tight with observations, experimental results, insight and forceful arguments based on what we all know of language but never analyze. This reader finds Professor Pinker’s genuinely instructive volume funny as well, a delightful member of that rare genre headed by that classic Life on the Mississippi.”
—Scientific American
“His own use of language is a powerful advertisement for this human ability, as he lays his stall out with clarity and candor…. Darwin…would surely be impressed by the way in which Pinker sheds light on these questions…. A superb book, simply at the level of being a good read: it is packed with fascinating facts and information…. Pinker debunks with panache, cuts through the confusion of jargon, and tells a mean anecdote. He does for language what David Attenborough does for animals, explaining difficult scientific concepts so easily that they are indeed absorbed as a transparent stream of words…. I will be astonished if a better science book of any kind, let alone one accessible to the general reader, comes along this year…. His book is groundbreaking, exhilarating, fun, and almost certainly correct. Do yourself a favor and read it.”
—Sunday Times (London)
“A brilliant study of language…. Language is full of mysteries, which Pinker excavates like a pig after truffles. Professor Pinker…was a brave man to write this book, for who would have taken it seriously if it had been clodhoppingly written? As it happens, he writes splendidly.”
—The Times (London)
“An excellent book full of wit and wisdom and sound judgment…better than most college courses on language and the mind—and a great deal more digestible.”
—Boston Globe Book Review
“A book to inspire.”
—Perspectives of the Orton Dyslexia Society
“A dazzling new book…. This is all immensely fine and trenchant, and Pinker embarks on his argument with brilliant dash and swagger: ‘I want to debauch your mind with learning,’ he begins…. What a wonderful ambition. Not many writers aim this high. [He is] a canny writer and a bit of a wag…. The Language Instinct vibrates with delicious asides and poignant discoveries…. Words can hardly do justice to the superlative range and liveliness of Pinker’s investigations.”
—The Independent
“Steven Pinker is, I think, engagingly wrong in some of his conclusions, but the operative word here is engagingly. He reminds us of the pleasures of reading about language, provided people like him are at the wheel.”
—William F. Buckley, Jr.
“Splendid…. Not bad for a supposedly stuffy scholar from MIT.”
—Los Angeles Times
“He writes with authority and grace about the sprawling science of linguistics, making even its thornier branches accessible to general readers.”
—USA Today
“[A] triumph of common sense over some of the nonsense that has dominated psychology and linguistics for much of this century…. A book about language had better be well written, and Mr. Pinker’s book is superbly so. Rarely can such a rich harvest of new ideas and profound insights have been made so accessible by one of their inventors…. He is unfailingly articulate, funny, and clear. The book is to Chomsky as Shakespeare is to Spenser.”
—The Economist
“[A] marvelously readable book about language, written by a real expert. Steven Pinker tackles with wit and erudition the kinds of question everyone asks…. [He] brings not only an expertise in linguistics and psychology and a wide knowledge of biology, but also an ability to understand the ordinary person’s linguistic hang-ups and to shake them loose with gentle ridicule…. Whatever its eventual impact on linguistics and psychology, The Language Instinct will undoubtedly be greeted as a distinguished contribution to the lay understanding of science…. With its wealth of examples, its flawless typesetting, its wide-ranging bibliography and its irresistible good humor, Pinker’s book is certain to increase its readers’ respect for the amazing natural phenomena that the author and his colleagues have made their life’s study.”
—Nature
“Somebody finally got it right. Steve Pinker’s thoroughly modern, totally engaging book introduces lay readers to the science of language in ways that are irreverent and hilarious while coherent and factually sound. A delicious read.”
—Leila Gleitman, University of Pennsylvania;
President, Linguistic Society of America
“A mightily ambitious book…. With an unusual and attractive blend of patience and wit, Pinker is extremely good at explaining…. Pinker is not yet 40; with his voracious intelligence and his gift for prose, we can expect many more installments from the front lines of neuroscience. I await them—nervously.”
—Montreal Gazette
“[An] exciting synthesis—an entertaining, totally accessible study that will regale language lovers and challenge professionals in many disciplines…. A beautiful hymn to the infinite creative potential of language.”
—Publishers Weekly
“Examples are clear and easy to understand; Pinker’s humor and insight make this the perfect introduction to the world of cognitive science and language. Highly recommended.”
—Booklist
“Run, don’t walk, to your local bookstore and buy The Language Instinct. In a dazzling, informative, and funny book, Steven Pinker brings you into the wonderful world of language. He spares the reader the mumbo jumbo of linguistics and directs your attention to an unalterable truth. Language is an instinct, and in the discovery, Pinker reveals the secrets of the mind. It is brilliant.”
—Michael S. Gazzaniga, Director, Center for Neuroscience,
University of California, Davis; author of Nature’s Mind
“[E]xtremely important…. The power of the book…is in the elegant assembly of a coherent argument, based on a foundation of evolutionary biology…. The Language Instinct is provocative. But there are
no cheap points scored nor is there any intemperate denunciation of opposing views…. The case is intelligently structured, forcefully argued, and couched in beautiful prose. Readers may reject Pinker’s conclusions, but they will greatly enjoy the experience of the journey through his mind.”
—New Scientist
“[A] brilliant exposition…he expounds ideas with clarity, wit, and polish.”
—The Observer
“Pinker is unfailingly stimulating, as well as writing in a genuinely democratic style that combines elegance with unforced touches of the popular.”
—New Statesman and Society
“[A]n impressive book. It is vividly written by a man of great learning…full of useful information to impart at cocktail parties.”
—Literary Review
“[A]n important and fascinating book…. Professor Pinker writes very clearly and wittily. He makes us appreciate the marvelous nature of what we ordinarily take for granted—one of the marks of a good popularizer.”
—Sunday Telegraph
“A cracking book…marvelous…wonderful to read.”
—The Guardian
“A great book…. Its author is in love with language and revels in its uses…. While providing an astonishingly thorough course in psycholinguistics, Pinker also manages to be funnier than I would have thought such a substantive, critical discussion could possibly be…. Pinker’s biology is impeccably up-to-date. Indeed, he displays a much more sophisticated and critical understanding of issues in evolution and adaptation than most biologists. The Language Instinct should be a candidate for best book of the 90’s. Or at least a Pullet Surprise.”
—Quarterly Review of Biology
“The most lucid, charming, and wide-ranging popularization of Noam Chomsky’s linguistics ever written.”
—Toronto Globe and Mail
“Pinker writes clearly and engagingly about the most difficult matters.”
—American Airlines Way
“Steven Pinker has made several landmark contributions to cognitive science in the past, and his latest book The Language Instinct constitutes yet another one. [It is] written in an exceptionally clear, engaging, and witty style and directed towards a general audience…. One might be tempted to think that this book is simply a rerun of Chomsky’s greatest hits, but that would be mistaken. What makes Pinker’s version of the story extremely original and valuable is that…he makes abundant use of a wide range of different sources of evidence, including developmental psycholinguistics, cognitive neuroscience, and evolutionary psychology…. A brilliant piece of work. It succeeds in demonstrating that the recent discoveries about the uniquely human ability to acquire and use language are as elegant and exciting as anything in modern science.”
—Mind and Language
“Pinker eloquently explains the details of Chomsky’s revolutionary theory, and then proceeds to bring us up-to-date on the latest advances in linguistics…. Luckily, he’s also a user-friendly writer able to transform technical stuff into a fun and informative read…. But don’t be fooled by the entertainment: Pinker is dead serious about language.”
—Kinesis
“Steven Pinker, one of the leading linguistic researchers in the world, skillfully defends a provocative thesis about the biological bases of language and in the process provides authoritative answers to major questions about the nature of language. The Language Instinct is a splendid and indispensable book.”
—Howard Gardner, Graduate School of Education,
Harvard University; author of The Mind’s New Science
“[A]n accessible, entertaining, and authoritative introduction to the modern science of language…. It is a joy to witness, at last, the prommise of linguistics fulfilled.”
—London Review of Books
OTHER BOOKS BY STEVEN PINKER
The Stuff of Thought: Language and Human Nature
The Blank Slate: The Modern Denial of Human Nature
Words and Rules: The Ingredients of Language
How the Mind Works
Learnability and Cognition: The Acquisition of Argument Structure
Language Learnability and Language Development
Credits
Cover painting by Donna Coveney
Copyright
This book was originally published in 1994 by William Morrow and Company.
P.S.™ is a trademark of HarperCollins Publishers.
THE LANGUAGE INSTINCT. Copyright © 1994 by Steven Pinker. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books
First Harper Perennial edition published 1995.
First Perennial Classics edition published 2000.
First Harper Perennial Modern Classics edition published 2007.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available upon request.
ISBN 978-0-06-133646-1
EPub Edition © JUNE 2011 ISBN: 978-0-06-203252-2
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* All the technical terms from linguistics, biology, and cognitive science that I use in this book are defined in the Glossary on pages 503–516.