The Story of Human Language
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The Story of Human Language
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Narrated by:
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John McWhorter
About this listen
Language defines us as a species, placing humans head and shoulders above even the most proficient animal communicators. But it also beguiles us with its endless mysteries, allowing us to ponder why different languages emerged, why there isn't simply a single language, how languages change over time and whether that's good or bad, and how languages die out and become extinct. Now you can explore all of these questions and more in an in-depth series of 36 lectures from one of America's leading linguists.
You'll be witness to the development of human language, learning how a single tongue spoken 150,000 years ago evolved into the estimated 6,000 languages used around the world today and gaining an appreciation of the remarkable ways in which one language sheds light on another.
The many fascinating topics you examine in these lectures include: the intriguing evidence that links a specific gene to the ability to use language; the specific mechanisms responsible for language change; language families and the heated debate over the first language; the phenomenon of language mixture; why some languages develop more grammatical machinery than they actually need; the famous hypothesis that says our grammars channel how we think; artificial languages, including Esperanto and sign languages for the deaf; and how word histories reflect the phenomena of language change and mixture worldwide.
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your Library section along with the audio.
©2004 The Teaching Company, LLC (P)2004 The Great CoursesListeners also enjoyed...
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 25-07-18
Engaging overview of language development
Lots of interesting evolutionary iquirks explained and many amusing anecdotes included to asaist learning experience.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- G
- 09-09-19
Fascinating and entertaining account of language
This was a really interesting and enjoyable course on the development of languages. It takes a global perspective with examples from Africa the Far East and other areas but goes into great depth on Indo-European languages both romance and Germanic with plenty of explanation of English. The lecturer’s style is light hearted and often amusing making material which could be dull feel interesting and relevant.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Kindle Customer
- 25-05-20
Really interesting and easy to listen to
Listened to it twice already! Really good content and good narration. Interesting till the end
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- KL
- 13-05-20
Best
Absolutely the best narrator. And for me as an amateur linguist the most interesting book ever. Many thanks!
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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- Amazon Customer
- 17-09-17
Very good overview of the topic of language
I recommend this course. Very interesting and professional overview of the topic. Great Courses are typically shallow, this one is not.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 31-12-18
Fascinating, often funny, always easy to digest
I expected this to be interesting , but the style of delivery was as brilliant as the content was fascinating. This made it really accessible and enjoyable to listen to.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Dan
- 11-03-16
Absolutely fascinating and very accessible
John McWhorter is a pleasure to listen to as he skillfully entertains and teaches the audience. While linguistics is a highly technical subject, he explains complex ideas in simple terms, and often with nice anecdotes to add colour. Highly recommended!
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10 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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- Debi J
- 18-06-18
So sad I finished it
Prof McWhorter is a genius, fun, eloquent and slightly crackers. In the best possible way.
I have to say that this course delivered so much more than I expected. Yes, it covered all sorts of fascinating facts about human language - and was not too Euro-centric, which was refreshing. A real eye-opener in how languages are related around the world, how they evolved - and are still evolving, and the quirks and oddities in our modern languages. If you are interested in language then this course will hit the spot.
Very informative and definitely worth listening to.
But Prof McWhorter is the real reason this course is one of the best I have ever listened to. At first, I was raising my eyebrows and thinking "Hmm, he is a bit erratic sounding, will I like this". But before long I was hooked. His obvious enthusiasm shines out and brings this all to life. I suspect he ad-libs a bit. Sometimes things get dropped in that made me laugh out loud. At one point I am sure I heard the recording crew laughing too. What's with the broccoli? And as for the dog on the Titanic - I had to pause to recompose myself.
Since finishing this one, I have purchased other courses by Prof McWhorter, as well as listening to him on YouTube and other sources. Totally a fan-girl now. Prof McWhorter, you rock. Thank you for 18 hours and 15 minutes of fascinating, informative, exciting human language history.
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9 people found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Mirzhan Irkegulov
- 21-04-19
Funny and insightful
John McWhorter is quite good, I loved the lecture series. It mainly talks about the change that languages undergo over time, and mostly illustrates with Indo-European languages, although there are examples of many obscure languages from around the world.
It meshes well with playing Pokémon GO.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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- Dorothy & Joe Yeomans
- 21-09-19
Fascinating story, well told
Despite totalling eighteen this remained an interesting listen, full of new facts and ideas. Thoroughly recommended!
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