The Language Instinct: How the Mind Creates Language Reprint Edition

by Steven Pinker (Author)

207 customer reviews

ISBN-13: 978-0060976514

ISBN-10: 0060976519

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The Language Instinct: How the Mind Creates Language (Perennial Classics)

The Language Instinct: How the Mind Creates Language (Perennial Classics)
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In The Language Instinct, Steven Pinker, well-known for his revolutionary theory of how children acquire language, lucidly explains everything you always wanted to know about language: how it works, how children learn it, how it changes, how the brain computes it, how it evolved. With wit, education, and deft use of everyday examples of humor and wordplay, Pinker weaves our vast knowledge of language into a compelling story: language is a human instinct, wired into our brains by evolution like web spinning in spiders or sonar in bats.

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Product Details

Paperback: 496 pages
Publisher: Perennial; Reprint edition (February 1995)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0060976519
ISBN-13: 978-0060976514
Product Dimensions: 1.2 x 5.5 x 8.2 inches
Shipping Weight: 12 ounces
Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (207 customer reviews)
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #633,341 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #465 in Books > Textbooks > Social Sciences > Psychology > Neuropsychology
- #475 in Books > Reference > Words, Language & Grammar > Speech
- #1040 in Books > Medical Books > Psychology > Neuropsychology

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Customer Reviews

4.1 out of 5 stars

5 star		54%
4 star		22%
3 star		12%
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Top Customer Reviews

book's good, but STAY AWAY FROM KINDLE EDITION!

ByEduardo Vilaon May 31, 2011

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

This is not a review of the book itself, just a warning for anyone thinking of getting the Kindle edition.

The people who published this for Kindle should be ashamed of themselves for selling this product with a straight face.

As Kindle books are often scanned from printed versions, I'v grown accustomed to seeing the occasional mis-scanned word, as they are usually sparse and don't distract from the content.

This book, however, contains hundreds of mis-scans. I'm talking about a few every page (some pages might contain up to 10 errors). And these are errors that routinely distract from the content of the book, as the errors will sometime spell a different word altogether, giving a sentence a completely different meaning that you will only realize is nonsensical after reading an entire paragraph.

Plus, 2 times out of ten, the combination of letters "th" will be scanned as "di". As you must realize, die difficulty of reading dirough paragraphs full of diese errors, in die kindle version of diis book, dioroughly distracts from the enjoyment of die material.

77 comments 280 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?YesNo

Despite Excellent Arguments, Some Readers Miss the Point

ByA customeron February 16, 1999

Format: Paperback

This is a superb introduction to generative linguistics (both phonology and syntax). Pinker has successfully simplified most of the complex methodological and notational issues to make these somewhat opaque fields more accessible to lay readers. As such, this is an ideal introductory text and a good reference for linguistic types who have had to forego the Ivory Tower but who want to keep their feet wet. What this text is not is an advanced, graduate-level text--and so don't expect that. If you've read any other book on generative theory (or better yet, minimalist theory), this book is backstepping. (Note that the negative reviewers of this title are also showing off how "advanced" they are--thereby missing the very point to this text!) On the other hand, if you're fascinated by language at all, no matter the reason, you owe it to yourself to try this text out. I have colleagues in non-linguistics fields of study (particularly literature) who don't understand why language isn't static, why the idea of "grammaticality" changes over time--or that Black Vernacular English and Sign Language are as well grammared as "standard" English. If you've been curious about any of these issues or more--buy and read "The Language Instinct."

66 comments 176 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?YesNo

ByS. Poggion May 24, 2001

Format: Paperback

The enlightened Stephen Pinker delivers a masterful compendium on linguistic theory that is truly enjoyable to read. His fine use of wit and literary fluency makes this book very enjoyable and emulates the great Richard Dawkins in the way that it seeks (and succeeds) in reaching the layman, the student, and the academician. To put it bluntly, I had never been interested in Linguistics. It seemed to be a stuffy field of repetition of high school "grammar". When assigned to read this book for a Cognitive Development Psychology course, I approached it with dread. It turned out to be the highlight of my current academic quarter. Pinker, using clean evidence to back his claims, makes some wonderful assertions about Linguistics. This book, couched in the fascinating field of evolutionary psychology, does a good job of explaining the formation and foibles of a Universal Language. He justly attacks the ridiculously ingrained Standard Social Science Model of Language and delivers a cohesive explanation from a Psychologically oriented perspective. Unlike what most critics state, Pinker does NOT say that genes are the only basis of language, but rather supports the fundamental basis of evolutionary psychology. It goes a bit like this: the environment of our hunter-gatherer ancestors selected for certain genes to proliferate. These genes code us to synthesize certain proteins at certain times in our development to form certain physiological mechanisms (arms, lungs, brain, etc). Of these, he argues that the brain is not a general purpose processing tool but rather a domain specific one with an appropriate "Language Center". This causes us to have an innate mechanism for language and, therefore, an innate "Mentalese" and a Universal Grammar. HOWEVER - he also says that culture is necessary!! Without culture, one could never learn the particulars of their own language and, after a certain developmental threshold, would be without any specific language.
I apologize for the length of this endorsement. It just seemed that some possible, deconstructive critiques could seem compelling without some understanding of what Pinker was really getting at - the inherent beauty of human language and our "instinct" for it. So, if you skimmed this recommendation, know only this: "THIS BOOK IS WONDERFUL AND COVERS A GREAT RANGE AND DEPTH OF LINGUISTICS. A FUN AND INSPIRATIONAL READ".

11 comment 93 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?YesNo

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

Brilliant even when it goes off the mark

I must have read The Language Instinct some 10 years ago.
First thing. The author des not hide the science behind bogus mathematic formalisms, which are hardly understood by...Read more

Published 18 days ago by Cristiano Valois

Great book. I really enjoyed it and learned a lot.

Published 22 days ago by Laura

arrived in great

exactly what i needed for class; arrived in great shape

Published 1 month ago by Crest01

Great book and excellent service!

Published 2 months ago by Thomas R. Schulte

Pinker's treatment of linguistics is a bit scientific at worst but insightful and provoking leaving the listener with a ...

Pinker's treatment of linguistics is a bit scientific at worst but insightful and provoking leaving the listener with a mindful. Well worth the listening.Read more

Published 3 months ago by Keith

Profound treatment on how language is a natural extension of a person's consciousness as if a person is the lock and language, the key..

Published 4 months ago by Chares G. Muhle

You have to like language to love this book, but I like language. It's an eye-opener.

Published 7 months ago by J. Vallely

like Pinker, inclined to undisciplined pseudo-scientific speculation

In reviewing Steven Pinker's book The Language Instinct, I do not give this work the highest ranking, nor the lowest, but the most average, not because I want to discourage its...Read more

Published 8 months ago by Paul A. Mitchell

Very good and the price is cheap

Published 8 months ago by Amazon Customer

Published 10 months ago by Yichi Zhang

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