Summary
Steven Pinker's "The Language Instinct" argues that language is an innate human faculty, a biological adaptation, rather than a learned behavior or cultural invention. This instinct, rooted in universal deep structures, explains why children acquire language effortlessly and why all human languages share underlying commonalities despite surface differences. The book aims to demystify language science for both language enthusiasts and popular science readers.
The book explores scientific discoveries and ongoing research related to language, including the concept of a "grammar gene," the capabilities of "brainy babies," and the development of artificial intelligence. It addresses natural questions about linguistic diversity, the difficulty adults face in learning new languages, and the underlying biological and cognitive mechanisms that shape human communication.
Key concepts
- Language Instinct — A biological adaptation that enables humans to acquire and use language.
- Universal Deep Structures — Underlying common principles shared by all human languages.
- Grammar Gene — A hypothetical genetic component influencing language ability.
- Brainy Babies — Infants exhibiting innate linguistic capabilities.
- Signing Chimps — Non-human primates demonstrating communication abilities.
From the book
I have never met a person who is not interested in language. I wrote this book to try to satisfy that curiosity. Language is beginning to submit to that uniquely satisfying kind of understanding that we call science, but the news has been kept a secret.
For the language lover, I hope to show that there is a world of elegance and richness in quotidian speech that far outshines the local curiosities of etymologies, unusual words, and fine points of usage.
For the reader of popular science, I hope to explain what is behind the recent discoveries (or, in many cases, nondiscoveries) reported in the press: universal deep structures, brainy babies, grammar genes, artifically intelligent computers, neural networks, signing chimps, talking Neanderthals, idiot savants, feral children, paradoxical brain damage, identical twins separated at birth, color pictures of the thinking brain, and the search for the mother of all languages. I also hope to answer many natural questions about languages, like why there are so many of them, why they are so hard for adults to learn, and why no one seems to know the plural of Walkman.