The Language Instinct
#1467 of 2,654 all-time
The Language Instinct
Steven Pinker
5 people recommended it in 3 threads, 2018–2020.
What people on Hacker News said
I've gotten really into natural languages since I've lived outside my country of origin for the last 2 and a half years and I've heard good things about this book being an entry point into linguistics.
Like C. S. Lewis, Steven Pinker has a way of writing about hard things that makes them easy to understand, even enjoyable. The subject matter is also news to most people, I think, who don't appreciate just how much that language is built in to the human mind from conception.
A very nice introduction of the idea of recursion in linguistics, and a rebuttal of the old dogma that there is in fact such a thing as a language instinct.
Where it comes up
- Ask HN: Books you plan to read in 2020? 2019 · 3 recommendations
- Ask HN: Mind bending books to read and never be the same as before? 2020 · 1 recommendation
- Ask HN: What are your favorite non-fiction books of all time? 2018 · 1 recommendation