The Origin of Language
how we learned to speak and why
$32.75
- Paperback
320 pages
- Release Date
28 July 2025
Summary
The Mother Tongue: How Childcare Sparked the Birth of Language
Conventional theories on the origin of language, often proposed by thinkers like Noam Chomsky and Steven Pinker, emphasize the need for cooperation in hunting, warfare, or toolmaking. But what if the true catalyst for language was something far more fundamental?
In this revolutionary account, evolutionary biologist Madeleine Beekman presents a compelling new theory: language arose from the necessity to share chil…
Book Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781761634369 |
|---|---|
| ISBN-10: | 1761634364 |
| Author: | Madeleine Beekman |
| Publisher: | Simon & Schuster Australia |
| Imprint: | Scribner Australia |
| Format: | Paperback |
| Number of Pages: | 320 |
| Release Date: | 28 July 2025 |
| Weight: | 390g |
| Dimensions: | 33mm x 234mm x 153mm |
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What They're Saying
Critics Review
‘Her theory, which she describes as having been hiding in plain sight, is compelling. [An] exciting idea … a persuasive case for the role of alloparents in the evolution of language’ * The Guardian *
About The Author
Madeleine Beekman
Madeleine Beekman is professor emerita of evolutionary biology and behavioral ecology at the University of Sydney, Australia. In the academic year of 2020–21, Beekman was a resident fellow at the Institute for Advanced Study in Berlin (Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin), which is where the idea for The Origin of Language was born. She currently lives with her husband in Australia’s northern tropical rainforest, where she can observe the endangered cassowary from her office. She has two adult daughters and a tiny granddaughter.
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