Guy Deutscher

"'Language is mankind's greatest invention--except, of course, that it was never invented.' So begins linguist Deutscher's investigation into the genesis and evolution of language. If we started off with rudimentary utterances on the level of 'man throw spear, ' how did we end up with sophisticated grammars, enormous vocabularies, and intricately nuanced degrees of meaning? Drawing on recent discoveries in linguistics, Deutscher exposes the elusive...

In this version of the fairy tale, Cinderella is a composer and the Prince is a poet.