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Vyvyan Evans

The Language Myth: Why Language Is Not An Instinct Paperback – Illustrated, 22 Sept. 2014

by Vyvyan Evans (Author)

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Language is central to our lives, the cultural tool that arguably sets us apart from other species. Some scientists have argued that language is innate, a type of unique human 'instinct' pre-programmed in us from birth. In this book, Vyvyan Evans argues that this received wisdom is, in fact, a myth. Debunking the notion of a language 'instinct', Evans demonstrates that language is related to other animal forms of communication; that languages exhibit staggering diversity; that we learn our mother tongue drawing on general properties and abilities of the human mind, rather than an inborn 'universal' grammar; that language is not autonomous but is closely related to other aspects of our mental lives; and that, ultimately, language and the mind reflect and draw upon the way we interact with others in the world. Compellingly written and drawing on cutting-edge research, The Language Myth sets out a forceful alternative to the received wisdom, showing how language and the mind really work.

ISBN-10

9781107619753
ISBN-13

978-1107619753
Edition

Illustrated
Publisher

Cambridge University Press
Publication date

22 Sept. 2014
Language

English
Dimensions

13.79 x 1.83 x 21.59 cm
Print length

316 pages
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Review

'A much-needed, comprehensive critique of universal grammar. Vyvyan Evans builds a compelling case that will be difficult to refute.' David Crystal, author of The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Language

'Evans' rebuttal of Chomsky's universal grammar from the perspective of cognitive linguistics provides an excellent antidote to popular textbooks where it is assumed that the Chomskyan approach to linguistic theory (in one avatar or another) has somehow been vindicated once and for all.' Michael Fortescue, Professor Emeritus, University of Copenhagen

'The Language Myth builds a compelling case that there is no innate universal grammar. Evans's work is a welcome contribution to our understanding of the origin, nature, and use of human language.' Daniel L. Everett, Dean of Arts and Sciences, Bentley University

'Highly recommended.' Seizi Iwata, Kansai University

'Is the way we think about language on the cusp of a revolution? After reading The Language Myth it certainly looks as if a major shift is in progress, one that will open people's minds to liberating new ways of thinking about language.' New Scientist

'Voluminous … completely persuasive.' Fortean Times

'Although it deals with complex issues, this book will be easily understood by lay readers. Linguists will also benefit from reading this well-researched interdisciplinary book. This book, or chapters from it, can be used as supplementary material in linguistics classes as it presents clear discussions of interesting topics such as the commonalities and differences between human and animal communication systems, linguistic relativity, the colour term controversy, the questions of innateness and modularity and what they would entails, and of course the functioning of the brain and how it is related to communicative behaviour.' Randy J. LaPolla, Studies in Language

Book Description

Drawing on cutting-edge research, Evans presents an alternative to the received wisdom, showing how language and the mind really work.

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ 1107619750
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Cambridge University Press; Illustrated edition (22 Sept. 2014)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 316 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 9781107619753
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1107619753
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 13.79 x 1.83 x 21.59 cm

Best Sellers Rank: 457,461 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- 291 in Semantics (Books)
- 1,365 in Linguistics References
- 10,782 in Words, Language & Grammar

Customer reviews:
28 ratings

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Vyvyan Evans

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Vyvyan Evans is a native of the ancient Roman cathedral city of Chester, in England. He holds a PhD in linguistics from Georgetown University, Washington, DC, and has lived and worked extensively in Asia, Europe, and North America. He has written numerous books of fiction and non-fiction. His award-winning writing focuses, in one way or another, on the nature of language and mind, the impact of technology on language, and the future of communication. His popular science writing has been featured in numerous venues, ranging from 'The Guardian' to 'Psychology Today', from 'The New York Post' to 'New Scientist'. His science fiction work explores the status of language and digital communication technology as potential weapons of mass destruction. For further details of his science fiction writing, visit the Songs of the Sage series website: www.songs-of-the-sage.com

Customer reviews

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3 star		13%
2 star		8%
1 star		5%

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H. Hill

This book is definitely about the myth of language, but Evans has no idea what that myth is.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on 17 February 2015

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This is an excellent book for anyone who rejects the authority of academia as continuing under its ages long submission to religion, only in a new covert form in this supposedly free, scientific age. The war of religion against truth has continued into the scientific age by making it a war against science, taking place from within science. The central factor of human existence having to do with this reality is the power of language, so that Evans’ work doubly demonstrates the nature of the war of religion against science, as we live under the power of religion today. There are three key points to pick up from this text to illustrate the usefulness of this work as illustrative of the manner in which free access to true knowledge is prevented by the control of knowledge that serves social authority. First is the all important presumption asserted in his emphasis laid upon the nature of language defined by the ‘use we make of it’, indicated, for example, under “Taking stock of language”, on page five, where we are told how we use language in all manner of ways, to serve our personal ends. This defines language in terms of the definition of ourselves, as ends in ourselves, which the existence of language proves conclusively, we are not, since language creates an end beyond ourselves, seen in the social form our species clearly evolved to deliver. In order to preserve this calculated presumption he then defines ‘meaning’ in conformity to the principle that language exists to serve our wilful purposes, page seven, where he says meaning is the conventional attribution given to the verbal symbol. However, the attribute of language in humans can only mean that the human animal is a superorganism, as ants or bees are. Human language evidently generates a programme that organises individuals into forming this living being, the superorganism. So that language is done to us, not by us, from which it follows that meaning is subliminal, not conscious. Thus we have meanings that we are aware of that are in effect signifiers of true meanings, that we are unaware of. A simple example is the word ‘God’, which signifies the creator of existence, but means the ‘superorganism’, because the human superorganism is the reality that this word refers to without our ever knowing it. Language generates this way of knowing constantly, allowing us to envisage reasons for things we have a sense of but no real knowledge of, thus in the days precursory to science we spoke of phlogiston as we tried to grasp the nature of burning, and then came ‘oxygen’, as science revealed reality. Thus our linguistic anatomy generates a programme that develops over time, forming social complexity that is in reality a living animal, a programme we experience as a state of knowing reality, although its biological function is to extend reality in human form. From this biological mechanism of language all the dualisms that plague of our mental world, arise. Curiously, Evans, being oblivious to the true nature of language, acting as an agent of authority, blithely presumes to imagine that he has the true answer, and condemns his equally floundering intellectual counterparts, as promoters of mere presumptions, p. 68. When in fact all share a common presumption, that the human animal as created by evolution is the individual person. When in reality it is the superorganism that persons belong to as cells belong to a body, or bricks belong to a building, that evolution has created in the form of our species, as proven by our power of speech, and the nonsense it delivers that we cannot live without, as in religion. That true linguistic meaning is subliminal is proven by the vital significance of religious behaviour in human life, since how else could meanings so patently absurd, be so essential otherwise ? There must be an underlying scientific truth, to the overtly absurd religious truths, and there is : the human animal is a superorganism, not the person. And of course it is this facility of language for fronting reality with knowledge that indicates reality covertly, that allows religion to subvert science today, hence the war of religion against science now takes place entirely from within science itself, allowing an illusion of freedom to be projected upon the world, which is as fictional as any illusion ever was. Talk about the Emperor’s new suit, science is religion’s new cloak, to which Evans has added a few stitches, from within the mill that is academia.

3 people found this helpful

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Manmohan Bhaskar

Av Excellent Vitanda Job

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on 16 December 2015

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Among the Indian philosophers there were some who did philosophy in the Vitanda style. The only aim of the Vitanda philosophers was to destroy their opponents’ intellectual position without advancing any clear and elaborate intellectual position of their own. For this purpose, they employed all sorts of verbal tricks, including logic, rhetoric, wordplay, puns and mixing literal and metaphorical meanings. Vyvyan Evans (VE) does all this, and he does it brilliantly. According to David Crystal (quoted at the back cover), VE’s case is “difficult to refute”. This is because a good Vitanda argument is always irrefutable. Anyone sick of Chomsky’s protean “language as instinct” linguistics resulting in attempts to forcibly fit all languages into the Procrustean bed of English grammar, the destruction (even in the Vitanda style) of the philosophy behind this type of linguistics should be welcome. Now that Chomsky, along with his sycophantic hagiographers, is out of the field linguistics, and his rottweilers who viciously attacked anyone writing a word against Chomsky have lost their teeth, Steven Pinker flying the Chomskyan banner is quite a soft target for VE. But another linguist Geoffrey Sampson dared to challenge Chomsky in the heyday of the Chomskyan “Revolution” with predictable consequences of being viciously attacked by Chomskyites. But he carried on the crusade in the revised edition of his book. This book is mentioned by VE in the References. But Sampson’s work is mentioned nowhere in the book. In my opinion, Sampson did a better job than VE, but others may think differently. This Conspiracy of Silence about the work of a senior colleague (hoping that readers may not know about this and give all the credit to VE) is a shame.

5 people found this helpful

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Wildcat

Language Myth

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on 12 January 2015

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This author takes the view that human language has evolved from animal sounds and is acquired only by listening and practice. It is easier to read than "The Language Instinct", as it uses larger type and does not try to cram in too much material.

7 people found this helpful

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Marlodge

Another rebuttal of Universal Grammar, but not as good as Sampson's.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on 10 June 2015

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Always good to hear the Universal Grammar/Language Instinct orthodoxy challenged. But the job was done more thoroughly, indeed much better, by Geoffrey Sampson in his 2005 book The Language Instinct Debate which this author seems to ignore almost completely. Evans does have access to some recent research in neurology, but that is the only thing that makes this book worth reading.

5 people found this helpful

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DJM

With proper corpus examples and less cheese this would've been an excellent book.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on 17 October 2014

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A clear and persuasive case against Universal Grammar, sometimes let down by the awkward, sub-Benny Hill examples. With proper corpus examples and less cheese this would've been an excellent book.

10 people found this helpful

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George Boxall

A convincing and detailed refutation of the 'language as instinct' ...

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on 26 November 2014

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A convincing and detailed refutation of the 'language as instinct' hypothesis. Some have remarked on the polemical tone, but given the intolerance shown over the years to anyone who dared question chomskian structuralism, this is perhaps not surprising.

4 people found this helpful

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Amazon Customer

Five Stars

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on 3 January 2015

Verified Purchase

Very interesting and well presented

3 people found this helpful

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Javier Andres Morras Cortes

Five Stars

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on 18 February 2015

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Awesome!

One person found this helpful

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