This Is a Rock

What This Book Covers

1. Chapter One - Before Words
2. Chapter Two - Sounds of the Mouth
3. Chapter Three - Naming the World
4. Chapter Four - Whomst Hath the Right to Speaketh Good?
5. Chapter Five - When English Went Goblin Mode
6. Chapter Six - Writing It Down
7. Chapter Seven - Language Gets a Makeover
8. Chapter Eight - Colonizers, Translators, and Thieves
9. Chapter Nine - The Lab Coat Shows Up Late
10. Chapter Ten - If You Know, You Know
11. Chapter Eleven - Translation and Loss
12. Chapter Twelve - The Future of Language

Excerpt

CHAPTER ONE Before Words LET’S GET SOMETHING straight: humans did not invent communication. We didn’t wake up one day and say, “Yo, let’s make a system for expressing complex abstract thought using layered vocal symbols with structured syntax.” No. We just didn’t want to get eaten. Before there were words, there were reactions. A sudden noise. A wide-eyed stare. A hand gesture that meant “nope.” You know exactly what I’m talking about, because we still do it. Watch someone almost drop their phone. Watch a mom’s eyes snap to her toddler in a crowd. Watch your friend tilt their chin and say nothing, but you know they’re about to drag someone behind their back. That’s the stuff we were running...