A history of language
By: Steven Roger Fischer
Publisher: Reaktion Books
Published: 2018
Place of publication: London
Language: eng
Number of pages: 270
ISBN-13: 9781780239033
Subjects: Historical linguistics; Sociolinguistics
Description: "It is tempting to take the tremendous rate of comtemporary linguistic change for granted. What is required, in fact, is a radical reinterpretation of what language is. Steven Roger Fischer charts the history of language from the times of Homo erectus, Neanderthal humans and Homo sapiens through to the nineteenth century, when the science of linguistics was developed, as he analyses the emergence of language as a science and its development as a written form. He considers the rise of pidgin, creole, jargon and slang, as well as the effects radio and television, propaganda, advertising and the media are having on language today. Originally published in 1999, this new format edition, which includes a new preface by the author, also shows how digital media will continue to reshape and re-invent the ways in which we communicate."--Backcover.
Notes: Originally published in 1999.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 259-263) and index.
Table of contents: title: Animal Communication and 'Language'; title: Talking Apes; title: First Families; title: Written Language; title: Lineages; title: Towards a Science of Language; title: Society and Language; title: Future Indicative.