Language in Prehistory

by Alan Barnard

For ninety per cent of our history, humans have lived as 'hunters and gatherers', and for most of this time as talking individuals. No direct evidence for the origin and evolution of language exists; we do not even know if early humans had language, either spoken or signed. Taking an anthropological perspective, Alan Barnard acknowledges this difficulty and argues that we can nevertheless infer a great deal about our linguistic past from what is around us in the present. Hunter-gatherers still inhabit much of the world, and in sufficient number to enable us to study the ways in which they speak, the many languages they use, and what they use them for. Barnard investigates the lives of hunter-gatherers by understanding them in their own terms, to create a book which will be welcomed by all those interested in the evolution of language.

Genres: Linguistics, Language, Anthropology, Prehistory, Nonfiction, History

195 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 2015

About the author

Alan Barnard is a world class communications strategist with a vast experience in devising and executing successful landmark campaigns. He made a major impact during his ten years working for the Labour Party and played a pivotal role in their 1997 general election victory. His work as Labour's Director of Campaigns and Elections helped change political campaigning in the United Kingdom. Now, as a founding Director of BBM Campaigns, he is taking campaigning into new territories.

Reviews

[Stephen Palmer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Language In Prehistory is a tour through the academic world of proto-language and all things symbolic leading up to the acquisition by early human beings (quite which ones being a matter of guesswork) of full language. This is quite a scholarly book with not a huge amount for the general reader, but I did enjoy it, especially towards the end as the author got into matters mythical and storytelling. The conclusions are fascinating and the whole book thought-provoking. A bit advanced for me, but I’m glad I read it.

[burcu okay · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kendimi gerizekalı hissettiğim bir kitap oldu. Teşekkür ederim buna ihtiyacım vardı.
Dil (ya da çeviri) bir kuram kitabınıda şaşırtmayan türdendi ama bence bu konu üzerine derleme kitap gibi olmuş bilemedim aslında son bölümü tüm kitabın özeti gibi.