The Language Game

How Improvisation Created Language and Changed the World

By: Morten H. Christiansen, Nick Chater

Narrated by: Peter Noble

Forget the language instinct—this is the story of how we make up language as we go

Language is perhaps humanity’s most astonishing capacity—and one that remains poorly understood. In The Language Game, cognitive scientists Morten H. Christiansen and Nick Chater show us where generations of scientists seeking the rules of language got it wrong. Language isn’t about hardwired grammars but about near-total freedom, something like a game of charades, with the only requirement being a desire to understand and be understood. From this new vantage point, Christiansen and Chater find compelling solutions to major mysteries like the origins of languages and how language learning is possible, and to long-running debates such as whether having two words for “blue” changes what we see. In the end, they show that the only real constraint on communication is our imagination.

Critic reviews

"This book turned everything I thought I knew about language upside down. It's persuasive, full of fascinating details, and an absolute delight to read." —Tim Harford, author of How To Make the World Add Up

"The Language Game is a highly original, convincing story of how humans developed their greatest invention, language. It builds on years of impressive research by Morten Christiansen and Nick Chater and shows language science at its very best. A delight to read, it deserves careful study by anyone interested in the nature, function, and origins of human communication."
—Daniel Everett, author of Don’t Sleep, There Are Snakes

"A joyful romp across species and cultures through the ways language is invented and reinvented, peppered with insightful stories you will feel compelled to tell anyone in earshot." —Barbara Tversky, author of Mind in Motion

Fascinating history

Fascinating history of the evolution of language, and not just with humans, but also animals and even a little blurb on artificial intelligence. This would be a valuable book or audiobook for someone who is learning other languages, teaching language or works in an area of speech.

So much more compelling than Pinker's language instinct

Probably the best overview of contemporary linguistic research that I have come across so far. Very accessible and full of interesting facts and clever experiments about language. A must read for anyone interested in human cognition.

More Like Jeopardy Than Charades

In the arena where biologists, geneticists, linguists, and other interested scientists have been trying to explain the origins and intricacies of human language, Morten Christiansen and Nick Chater upend the Scrabble board, throw over all the cards in What's My Line, shoot the moon in Hearts, telling us that language is like a game of charades, no explanation possible or even necessary, total improvisation.

In fact it's less than a game of charades because there are no rules at all, including the only rule of charades, which is no vocalizing -- of course language is all about vocalizing. I posit that this book is more like a game of Jeopardy -- rather than looking for answers, it only raises more questions. Indeed, the book is less of an explanation of language than it is a series of debunkings of other explanations of language.

I have developed such an interest in linguistics via Audible, having listened to numerous titles by John McWhorter, Anne Curzan, Mark Forsyth, and others, that I now wish I studied it in college and pursued it as a career. This is the first of perhaps a dozen or so books on the subject that just left me totally out in the cold, learning nothing new on the subject.

I'm also left suspicious of the authors because of a serious omission:

I learned about myelin when my daughter's soccer coach had us all read a book about skill development. Myelin is the substance in our nervous system that insulates neural pathways that encode specific skills, from motor skills (myelin may well be the root of what we call muscle memory) to cognitive skills, to all skills really, including language acquisition.

Myelin is not mentioned once in this book (AFAIR, and I was listening for it), and I cannot fathom how that is possible in the context of this subject matter. With all the discussion in this book about genetic evolution and how it cannot explain the development of language, the authors seemed to have overlooked a critical point in failing to consider the evolution of myelin as a key stepping stone to language development (not to mention all other skill development).

But what do I know, I'm no expert, just a schmoe casting stones based on my limited reading as a dilletante.

Worth t the time and money.

I’m not a scientist but love learning about science related topics. Especially human biology and evolution. This book is worth the read!

Wonderful!

Really enjoyed this book! Informative and interesting. Language is a very fascinating subject.

Will look for more from this author!