tailieunhanh - GUY DEUTSCHER The Unfolding of Language

Of all mankind's manifold creations, language must take pride of place. Other inventions — the wheel, agriculture, sliced bread — may have transformed our material existence, but the advent of language is what made us human. Compared to language, all other inventions pale in significance, since everything we have ever achieved depends on language and originates from it. Without language, we could never have embarked on our ascent to unparalleled power over all other animals, and even over nature itself | FHEUNFOLDINGOFLANGUAGE n evolutionary tour of mankind s greatest invention GUY DEUTSCHER GUY DEUTSCHER The Unfolding of Language An Evolutionary Tour of Mankind s Greatest Invention METROPOLITAN BOOKS Henry Holt and Company New York Contents introduction 1 I A Castle in the Air 21 2 Perpetual Motion 45 3 The Forces of Destruction 73 4 A Reef of Dead Metaphors 115 5 The Forces of Creation 144 6 Craving for Order 171 7 The Unfolding of Language 210 Epilogue 260 APPENDIX A Flipping Categories 275 APPENDIX b Laryngeals Again 284 APPENDIX c lite Devil in the Detail 287 APPENDIX D The Cook s Counterpoint 294 APPENDIX E The Turkish Mirror 299 Notes 306 Bibliography 329 Glossary 341 Acknowledgments 347 Credits 348 Index .