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It is tempting to take the tremendous rate of contemporary 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.
About the author
Steven Roger Fischer is former director of the Institute of Polynesian Languages and Literatures in Auckland, New Zealand. His books include
A History of Language,
A History of Writing, and
A History of Reading, and
Island at the End of the World: The Turbulent History of Easter Island, also published by Reaktion Books. He lives on Waiheke Island, New Zealand.
Summary
A History of Language charts the history of linguistics from the times of Homo erectus through to the nineteenth century when the science of linguistics was developed and analyses the emergence of language as a science and its development as a written form.
