The First Word: The Search for the Origins of Language

Kenneally does an admirable job laying out the foundations of evolutionary linguistics and summarizing current research. It's pleasing to read someone with a background both in linguistics and in journalism, especially when exploring current debate.

I got my copy from a non-linguist. We both enjoyed it enough that I don't think jargon or oversimplification are problems, although an academic background probably helps. I actually think the layout and transitions are reasonably well done, especially while covering such a broad range of research. The chapter headings and the three (!) introductions led me to believe it would be far less organized as a narrative. The entire book could use one more go through editing, however. Personally I'd show more prefer to see more academic sections, and more concise introductions and summaries.

While I have minor concerns with framing, elaboration, organization, overall I appreciate the work. It's too bad that missing last edit will keep it from reaching a wider audience. I'm most fascinated by the range of reviews either condemning this book for being anti-Chomsky (please, PLEASE can we let go of this binary) or pro-evolution (it's a science book, so...). I guess I'm glad to see people engaging with the topic, however that gets expressed. show less

Marvelous book as much about scholarly bias (and mishigas) as it is about the evolution of language. Witty, wise, and wordworthy.

Beautiful prelude with good imagery. Thought-provoking. A wonderful exploration on the history and importance of language. However-- prelude, intro, prologue... It takes forever to get to the meat.

" the story of language evolution involves every other story that has ever existed and every story that will ever exist"

I enjoyed this book as a non-expert. I found the writing casual, but interesting. It introduced concepts about the evolution of language that I had never considered. I was surprised to find out how controversial the topic is and how many different kinds of research are used to address the structure and biological/historical development of language. The author described animal studies on natural signing and vocalization as well as efforts to teach them to communicate with us. She also discussed bird calls in the context of language evolution, the influence of socialization, tool development, agriculture etc. I guess my 3.5 star rating is because I didn't always feel she explained everything sufficiently, but that could also be my lack of show more understanding regarding some of the subtleties. Also, I had to work hard! Imagine that! For my leisure reading! Overall, a very worthwhile read on a fascinating topic. show less

While this wasn't the book I expected it to be, it was great. I'd expected something tracing modern languages back to their roots--Italian back to Latin back to that languages's Indo-European roots, etc.
Instead, the author explores various issues that modern linguists are investigating regarding the causes of the human phenomenon of language. Are there one or more genes that are responsible for the development of language? Are there antecedents of language in the animal world?
The book goes into a lot of detail. To be honest, I skimmed over parts of it. But I found it interesting enough to read it all the way through.

Another recent work on the rapidly evolving field of language evolution. I did not find it as satisfying a some others, in part because it seems to focus more on the development of the discipline of language evolution than on language evolution itself. Also, I found it less engagingly written than Pinker, for example, or Deutscher. Still worth reading, however, for those interested in this fascinating topic.

This was a really good survey of the research on the evolution of language. It was accessible and easy to read but didn't "dumb down" the infomation too much. The story of the linguists doing the work is a bit of a soap opera and there was a little too mcuh of the drama presented in the book. And there were a few points in the book where I thought the author dropped a topic too soon, almost abruptly. Overall, though, it was an informative and enjoyable read.