A History of Language

By Steven Roger Fischer

Book Overview

It is tempting to take the tremendous rate of contemporary linguistic change for granted. What is required, in fact, is a radical reinterpretation of what language is. Steven Roger Fischer begins his book with an examination of the modes of communication used by dolphins, birds and primates as the first contexts in which the concept of "language" might be applied. As he charts the history of language from the times of Homo erectus, Neanderthal humans and Homo sapiens through to the nineteenth century, when the science of linguistics was developed, Fischer analyses the emergence of language as a science and its development as a written form. He considers the rise of pidgin, creole, jargon and slang, as well as the effects radio and television, propaganda, advertising and the media are having on language today. Looking to the future, he shows how electronic media will continue to reshape and re-invent the ways in which we communicate.

" a] delightful and unexpectedly accessible book ... a virtuoso tour of the linguistic world."--The Economist

"... few who read this remarkable study will regard language in quite the same way again."--The Good Book Guide

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 186189080X
• ISBN13: 9781861890801
• Release Date: September 2003
• Publisher: Reaktion Books
• Length: 240 Pages
• Weight: 0.80 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.1" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

History of Language - a populist linguist's view

I rank Fischer with Pinkner and Crystal as one of those gifted writers whicn can make an onerous topic understandable by anyone. I was particularly interested in the 2nd chapter, on the development of language into humans and its comparison with the communication abilities of other animals and in particular our close cousins the apes. The rest of the book gives a clear, succinct and comprehensible overview of the field of linguistics. A great read for anyone with a general interest in linguistics!

Room for improvement, but still a good read

The history of language is a fascinating thing. It's a tough thing to trace in some cultures where writing wasn't developed, and where writing was developed we can only guess what it sounded like before audio recording equipment was developed. This book give a good history of all we know about language starting from first principles of where language developed and how it works in lower animals. The evolution of European languages is what I was most interested in, and I'm pleased with the depth that Fischer goes into. Prose is a difficult medium to use to get across the spread of languages though, and I think that better use of diagrams and maps would have been in order. (Ideally, an animation would be the only way to truly explain it.) The only other problem I had with this book was the chapter about the history of the study of linguistics, which I didn't find terribly interesting, and I skipped to the end of that part. Still a good read though.

Bought it for my wife - ended up reading it myself!

This book gives a clear, concise, and riveting explanation of the development of language and evolution of languages. Fischer manages to write a treatise that is both scholarly and popular at the same time. The only thing I miss is a chapter on popoualtion movement and languages that exist on the fringes - like the Tierra del Fuego languages.