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 CoursesWhat listeners say about The Story of Human Language
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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
- Bkr
- 08-01-2019
Entertaining and Enlightening
Dr McWhorter is a great presenter he conveys an impressive depth of learning on this topic and is very funny at times - thoroughly recommended. Although language is not my area of interest I gained a lot from this course.
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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
- patrick martin
- 09-09-2019
Utterly Fascinating
The Story of Human Language i was utterly fascinating. The chapter on the Story of the English Language was riveting and the final master class was the icing on the cake.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Isabelle
- 07-02-2022
Fascinating!!
As an amateur editor, self-professed grammar nerd and a lover of words, I found these lectures to be so engrossing and stimulating!!
There was a lot to take in, and at times I found John to talk a bit fast for me to wrap my head around some ideas and concepts but I still enjoyed the topic and journey through the lectures.
I will definitely be coming back for a re-listen!
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Darryl
- 18-08-2022
Fascinating
It's an amazingly complex topic, but it was told with great passion, knowledge and humour by the author. Very enjoyable and informative.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Tom Ramsay
- 18-09-2022
A dry subject made fascinating
John McWhorter is an engaging speaker. His inflections and intonations somehow draw you along and tap into our own curiosity. I thought I could never finish this series, but I did!
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Mauricio
- 20-12-2017
Outstanding
Well worth a listen. Amazing teacher, funny and informative.
Learnt a lot about history in general
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Simon
- 05-09-2016
Fascinating, narration got a bit annoying
Thought this was a great introduction to how languages develop and related to each other. Really accessible for all.
Only issue was the narrator went on too much. Used really strange examples to try and explain his points which went off on tangents too much. Also, found some of the ways he described other languages a bit patronising in parts, which I found quite strange from someone who is a linguist. I understand he was trying to engage the listener but thought it did detract from what is a fascinating topic.
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2 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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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Jesse
- 08-06-2018
Amazing lectures!
This was AWESOME! Professor John McWhorter is really funny and breaks down quite a lot in a easy to understand manner. Would love to hear more from this guy. Probably the best purchase I’ve made on here so far
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Anonymous User
- 21-12-2018
Linguistics meets Night Vale
John McWhorter combines erudition with a quick wit that approaches stand-up comedy. Definitely recommended for anyone who loves the study of language and playing with language.
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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
- Jagungal
- 30-06-2021
Interesting and entertaining
This series is very informative and accessible for an interested lay person.The presenter John Mcwhorter is engaging and has a dry sense of humour which I appreciated. He manages to communicate complex ideas without endlessly bogging down with technical terms. Something I particularly like is how he outlines and interprets controversy, both historical and current, within the field of linguistics. However - this also leads the one criticism that stops it getting 5 stars. The lecture series is now getting quite old (2005?) and there are a number of modern controversies he discusses that "should be resolved in the next 10 years". At the date of this review (2021) we're left hanging on how these turned out.
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