{"product_id":"unfolding-of-language-book-guy-deutscher-9780805080124","title":"The Unfolding of Language","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eSusanne K. Langer Award Winner\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003eNamed One of A.S. Byatt's Favorite Books of the Year in \u003ci\u003eThe Guardian\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003e\"A lively and thought-provoking exploration of why language change appears to be haphazard yet is fundamentally orderly. Exciting, witty, and a masterpiece of contemporary scholarship.\"--Elizabeth Closs Traugott, Professor Emeritus of Linguistics and English, Stanford University\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Blending the spirit of \u003ci\u003eEats, Shoots \u0026amp; Leaves\u003c\/i\u003e with the science of \u003ci\u003eThe Language Instinct\u003c\/i\u003e, an original inquiry into the development of that most essential\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003e--\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003eand mysterious\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003e--\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003eof human creations: language.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e Language is mankind's greatest invention-except, of course, that it was never invented.\" So begins linguist Guy Deutscher's enthralling investigation into the genesis and evolution of language. If we started off with rudimentary utterances on the level of \"man throw spear,\" how did we end up with sophisticated grammars, enormous vocabularies, and intricately nuanced degrees of meaning?\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e Drawing on recent groundbreaking discoveries in modern linguistics, Deutscher exposes the elusive forces of creation at work in human communication, giving us fresh insight into how language emerges, evolves, and decays. He traces the evolution of linguistic complexity from an early \"Me Tarzan\" stage to such elaborate single-word constructions as the Turkish \u003ci\u003esehirlilestiremediklerimizdensiniz\u003c\/i\u003e (\"you are one of those whom we couldn't turn into a town dweller\"). Arguing that destruction and creation in language are intimately entwined, Deutscher shows how these processes are continuously in operation, generating new words, new structures, and new meanings.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e As entertaining as it is erudite, \u003ci\u003eThe Unfolding of Language\u003c\/i\u003e moves nimbly from ancient Babylonian to American idiom, from the central role of metaphor to the staggering triumph of design that is the Semitic verb, to tell the dramatic story and explain the genius behind a uniquely human faculty.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ WELL_READ \/ SBYB","offer_id":50105967149329,"sku":"CIN0805080120A","price":0.0,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ WELL_READ \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":50924724814097,"sku":"GOR014126181","price":14.99,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":51007591022865,"sku":"NIN9780805080124","price":0.0,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":51416401903889,"sku":"CIN0805080120VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":51728479158545,"sku":"GOR007891353","price":13.49,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":52105322660113,"sku":"CIN0805080120G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0805080120.jpg?v=1751362115","url":"https:\/\/www.worldofbooks.com\/de-de\/products\/unfolding-of-language-buch-guy-deutscher-9780805080124","provider":"World of Books ","version":"1.0","type":"link"}