Language : the cultural tool / Daniel L. Everett.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Everett, Daniel L. (Daniel Leonard)

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Language and culture.

Communication.

Sociolinguistics.

Physical Description:

351 pages : illustrations ; 25 cm

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

New York : Pantheon Books, [2012]

Summary:

A bold and provocative study that presents language not as an innate component of the brain--as most linguists argue--but as a tool unique to each culture worldwide, and as essential to human society as fire.

Contents:

The gift of Prometheus

Problems. Language as a social tool ; From fire to communication ; Crossing the communication threshold ; Does Plato have a problem?

Solutions. Universals and faculties ; How to build a language ; The platforms for language

Applications. Aristotle's answer : interaction and the construction of cultural sighs ; Language the tool

Variations. Language, culture, and thinking ; You drink. You drive. You go to jail. Cultural effects on grammar ; Welcome to the Freak Show

Grammars of happiness

Appendix. Extract from Plato's "Meno."

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780307378538

0307378535

OCLC:

719428388