The language instinct : the new science of language and mind

This book looks at one of the most fundamental of our species' distinguishing characteristics: the use of language.

The author argues that our language abilities are part of our genetic inheritance, not a cultural artefact, bringing together Darwinian natural selection and Chomsky's linguistics.

The author debunks many of the standard facts - the dozens of Eskimo words for snow, the belief that we think using language, that English is a logic-defying tongue - and shows that language is a basic human instinct.