书名：The language Instinct: How the Mind Creates Language语言本能 

作者：Steven Pinker 

出版社名称：Harper Perennial Modern Classics 

出版时间：2007 

语种：英文 

ISBN：9780061336461 

商品尺寸：13.5 x 2.3 x 20.3 cm 

包装：平装 

页数：526 The Language Instinct《语言本能》是加拿大－美国实验心理学家、认知科学家和科普作家史蒂芬·平克（Steven Pinker）的成名之作，同时奠定了他在语言学界的地位。《语言本能》远远不止是一本语言学著作，平克从语言学的议题出发，矛头却直指心理机制的进化论解释。凭借此书，平克终于完成了从语言学家到进化心理学家的华丽转身。本书适合英语专业学生、以及对语言学、心理学及英语学习感兴趣的书迷朋友们细细品读。

推荐理由： 1.有名语言学家的成名巨作，一经出版就成为《纽约时报》的畅销书； 2.探索人类语言进化的奥秘，涵盖语言学、心理学及生物学知识，知识面广，可读性高； 3.附录附有作者简介、该书的写作过程、常见问题解答等，让读者了解作者创作这本书的心路历程； 4.文风幽默，例证丰富，条理清晰，非常适合语言学入门。

The Language Instinctis written by Steven Pinker for a general audience. Pinker argues that humans are born with an innate capacity for language. He deals sympathetically with Noam Chomsky's claim that all human language shows evidence of a universal grammar, but dissents from Chomsky's skepticism that evolutionary theory can explain the human language instinct. 媒体推荐： “Absorbing. He makes a persuasive, entertaining case for his thesis.”                                                        ---Time “A remarkably engaging book.”                                                        ---Scientific American “Pinker writes with acid verve.”                                                        ---Atlantic Monthly “A remarkably engaging book. The book is packed tight with observations, experimental results, insight and forceful arguments based on what we all know of language but never analyze. This reader finds Professor Pinker’s genuinely instructive volume funny as well, a delightful member of that rare genre headed by that classicLife on the Mississippi.”                                                         ---Scientific American 史蒂芬·平克不但从语言学、心理学的专业知识去着手，他还有深厚的生物学知识，非常巧妙地把一个几乎每个人都想知道的语言问题提出来讨论。不可忽略的是，平克作为一位数一数二的语言学家，他知道一般人对于语言学上的问题在哪里，以四两拨千斤的轻松方式，拨开云雾见青天，把人们带出牛角尖。

In this classic, the world's expert on language and mind lucidly explains everything you always wanted to know about language: how it works, how children learn it, how it changes, how the brain computes it, and how it evolved. With deft use of examples of humor and wordplay, Steven Pinker weaves our vast knowledge of language into a compelling story: language is a human instinct, wired into our brains by evolution.The Language Instinctreceived the William James Book Prize from the American Psychological Association and the Public Interest Award from the Linguistics Society of America. This edition includes an update on advances in the science of language sinceThe Language Instinctwas first published. “A brilliant, witty, and altogether satisfying book... Mr. Pinker has that facility, so rare among scientists, of making the most difficult material accessible to the average reader. Most important, he never talks down to the reader…The fundamental unity of humanity is the theme of this exciting book. Arresting… amusing and instructive… a useful, compelling book. “                                                     ---New York Times Book Review “An excellent book full of wit and wisdom and sound judgment…better than most college courses on language and in the mind---and a great deal more digestible.”                                                      ---Boston Globe Book Review “An extremely valuable book, very informative, and very well written.”                                                          ---Noam Chomsky 史蒂文·平克（Steven Pinker），加拿大—美国实验心理学家、认知科学家和科普作家，现任哈佛大学心理学教授。1976年从麦克吉尔大学（McGill University）毕业之后，平克进入哈佛大学学习，获得博士学位。前麻省理工学院心理学教授兼认知神经科学中心主任。2003年从麻省理工转投哈佛，现任哈佛大学心理学教授，著有《语言本能：人类语言进化的奥秘》（The Language Instinct, 1994）、《心智探奇》（How the Mind Works, 1997）等书籍。 The Johnstone Family Professor of Psychology at Harvard University, Steven Pinker has been named one of Time magazine's “Hundred Most Important People in the World Today,” and has been awarded numerous prizes for his research, teaching, and books. He is the author of six books, includingHow the Mind WorksandThe Blank Slate(both Pulitzer Prize finalists and winners of the William James Book Prize), as well asWords and RulesandThe Stuff of Thought. He is a frequent contributor toTime,The New Republic, and theNew York Times. Preface 1. An Instinct to Acquire an Art 2. Chatterboxes 3. Mentalese 4. How Language Works 5. Words, Words, Words 6. The Sounds of Silence 7. Talking Heads 8. The Tower of Babel 9. Baby Born Talking---Describes Heaven 10. Language Organs and Grammar Genes 11. The Big Bang 12. The Language Mavens 13. Mind Design Notes References Glossary Index 前言 第1章 语言习得的本能 第2章 喋喋不休者 第3章 思想的语言 第4章 语言的运作 第5章 词汇 第6章 寂静之声 第7章 说话的头脑 第8章 通天塔 第9章 生来就会说话的婴儿——描绘天堂 第10章 语言器官和语法基因 第11章 大爆炸 第12章 语言专家 第13章 心智的构造 注释 参考文献 术语 索引 精彩文摘 God did not have to do much to confound the language of Noah’s descendants. In addition to vocabulary---whether the word for “mouse” ismouseorsouris---a few properties of language are simply not specified in Universal Grammar and can vary as parameters. For example, it is up to each language to choose whether the order of elements within a phrase is head-first or head-last (eat sushiandto Chicagoversussushi eatandChicagoto) and whether a subject is mandatory in all sentences or can be omitted when the speaker desires. Furthermore, a particular grammatical widget often does a great deal of important work in one language and hums away unobtrusively in the corner of another. The overall impression is that Universal Grammar is like an archetypal body plan found across vast numbers of animals in a phylum. For example, among all the amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals, there is a common body architecture, with a segmented backbone, four jointed limbs, a tail, a skull, and so on. The various parts can be grotesquely distorted or stunted across animals: a bat’s wing is a hand, a horse trots on its middle toes, whales’ forelimbs have become flippers and their hindlimbs have shrunken to invisible nubs, and the tiny hammer, anvil, and stirrup of the mammalian middle ear are jaw parts of reptiles. But from newts to elephants, a common topology of the body plan---the shin bone connected to the thigh bone, the thigh bone connected to the hip bone---can be discerned. Many of the differences are caused by minor variations in the relative timing and rate of growth of the parts during embryonic developments. Differences among languages are similar. There seems to be a common plan of syntactic, morphological, and phonological rules and principles, with a small set of varying parameters, like a checklist of options. Once set, a parameter can have far-reaching changes on the superficial appearance of the language.