The Language Puzzle: Piecing Together the Six-Million-Year Story of How Words Evolved

Archaeologist Mithen (early prehistory, Univ. of Reading; Land of the Ilich) casts a wide, scholarly net in this account of how human evolution and the “ratchet effect” (one development leading to another) took society from grunts to cuneiform tablets to today’s use of computational evolutionary linguistics for studying language development. He presents so much material and multidisciplinary research that readers might feel a little overwhelmed at first, but most will find it reassuring that it is all here. Readers may want to focus on the “kiss-squeaks” and “travel hoos” of apes; the anatomical features of word formation in humans; the political implications of language usage; or, perhaps most remarkable of all, the miracle of how children learn to speak. Helpful charts and illustrations enhance the clarity of Mithen’s explanations. But he is also willing to consider alternative explanations for things and does so without being dismissive. His enthusiasm for words is evident in his engaged and accessible writing style.