The most fascinating beach read

I am in Florida, and every time I reach for my phone or my laptop, I get a stink eye from the kids and the husband- no work! No social media! Reading is allowed. I have The Language Instinct by Steven Pinker with me, and although this is far from a summer beach novel, it reads like the most fascinating story – the story of language. I can’t put it down. I read this book slowly. I savor every quote, every sentence, and every moment of clarity it brings to my mind. 

My quote cards

I started reading it a month ago at an airport, and it had such a grip on me from the start that I found a stack of old business cards in my travel bag and started scribbling quotes on them. The stack is growing, and I am not even halfway through the book. When I packed for this vacation, I just grabbed my travel bag, and it had everything I needed for this blog – my book and my quote cards!

I sorted these into categories, and almost every stack could be a separate blog topic, but the ocean is calling my name, and all I can do right now (while the kids are sleeping weighed down by key lime pie) is share these quotes with you! 

About language in general

• “Words are easily acquired because of a harmony between the mind of a child and the texture of reality.”

• “Each person’s brain contains a lexicon of words and the concepts they stand for (a mental dictionary) and a set of rules that combine worlds to convey relationships among concepts).”

• “Language is so tightly woven into the human experience that it is scarcely possible to imagine life without it.”

• “Ability to read and write makes our communication even more impressive by bridging the gaps of time, space, and acquaintanceship.”

• “We can shape events in each other’s brain with exquisite precision.”

• Do humans think in words? Most likely “we think in mentalese, and mentalese is clothed in words whenever we need to communicate.”

About equality of languages 

The most primitive society (in the sense of industrial development) may have the most complex grammatical structures. 

• “There are Stone Age societies, but there is no such thing as Stone Age language.”

• “There is no correlation between linguistic virtuosity and the level of industrialization of the society.” 

About grammar

• “Grammar is not about putting words together but putting word categories together.” 

• “Nonsense can be grammatical. See Lewis Carroll’s “Through the Looking Glass.” 

• “For a sentence to be well-formed, the verb must get what it wants: all the roles listed in the verbs dictionary entry must appear in their designated positions.”

About function words

Function words are prepositions, auxiliary verbs, and other tiny things that Kevin from The Office attempted to skip to save time. Who needs them anyways- we know what you mean when you just speak in nouns, adjectives, and verbs. Do you remember that episode?  Function words are different from meaning words (nouns, verbs, adjectives).

• “Function words are bits of crystallized grammar: they provide scaffolding for sentences.” 

• “Function words also capture much of what makes one language grammatically different from another.”

I will share more quotes and insights after I finish the book! Summer vibes to all!