The Language Instinct: How the Mind Creates Language-语言本能：大脑怎样创造语言

作者：Steven Pinker

书名：The Language Instinct: How the Mind Creates Language《语言本能：大脑怎样创造语言》

中文简介：《语言本能－探索人类语言进化的奥秘》是加拿大–美国认知科学家史迪芬·平克于1994年出版的科普书籍，书中平克主张人类的语言并不是文化的产物，而是一种本能，就好像蜘蛛知道如何结网一样。从语言是人类生物本能的角度，平克在书中广泛讨论了几乎所有跟语言相关的问题或迷思，如：语言是否决定了一个民族文化的高低，我们是否需要语言才能思考，英文的不规则动词是否是自找麻烦，为什么我们会用弦外之音的方式说话…。针对各个问题，平克以幽默甚至像是聊天的语气举出许多生动的实例，论述上更保持清晰和强而有力的逻辑性。《语言本能》在1999年被科学美国人杂志选为塑造出20世纪的100本书之一。
 
英文简介：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 Instinct received 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 since The Language Instinct was first published.