Pinker, S. (2000). The Language Instinct : How the Mind Creates Language. New York: W. Morrow and Co. Under a rather heavy Chomsky influence, Pinker discusses,
among other things, how language evolved, how children acquire and
develop language skills, and why the English language and its spelling
aren't as nonlogical as such critics as George Bernard Shaw have claimed.
He emphasizes Darwinian theory and defines language as a biological
adaptation to communicate". While Pinker bases his argument on
the innate nature of language, he situates language in that transitional
area between instinct and learned behavior, between nature and culture.
He rises to a celebration of the harmony between the mind...and
the texture of reality." |