La primera palabra/ The First Word: La Busqueda De Los Origenes Del Lenguaje/ in Search for ... Book

I picked this up because I wanted to see what happened to evolutionary linguistics after Pinker's "Language Instinct." The main thing I learned from this book is that not all evolutionary linguists share Steven Pinker's disdain for chimpanzee sign-language experiments. Kenneally is strongly attached to the view that human language skills are not particularly unique in the animal world. Consequently, she paints Noam Chomsky as a villain who, with his focus on complex human syntax and universal grammar (and by implication human uniqueness), has led evolutionary linguistics into fruitless controversy and blind paths. I'm willing to be persuaded about this, but the evidence she presents doesn't establish her case. Her writing lacks the charm of Pinker's. In some spots, the material was too dumbed down. In (too many) others, it seemed a dry recitation of the literature. For non-linguists, I suggest waiting for Pinker's next book, despite his biases, rather than reading this one.