A riveting account of the astonishing experiences and discoveries made by linguist Daniel Everett while he lived with the Pirahã, a small tribe of Amazonian Indians in central Brazil. Daniel Everett arrived among the Pirahã with his wife and three young children hoping to convert the tribe to Christianity. Everett quickly became obsessed with their language and its cultural and linguistic implications. The Pirahã have no counting system, no fixed terms for color, no concept of war, and no personal property. Everett was so impressed with their peaceful way of life that he eventually lost faith in the God he'd hoped to introduce to them, and instead devoted his life to the science of linguistics. Part passionate memoir, part scientific exploration, Everett's life-changing tale is riveting look into the nature of language, thought, and life itself.
Drawing on the Wari’ language of Brazil, Everett explains that speakers of all languages, in constructing their stories, omit things that all members of the culture understand.
Woven with anecdotes of his nearly forty years of fi eldwork amongst Amazonian hunter- gatherers, this is a “completely enthralling” (Spectator) exploration of our humanity and a landmark study of what makes us human. “[An] ambitious ...
A handy beginner's guide to linguistic fieldwork - from the preparation of the work to the presentation of the results.
An accessible exploration of a burgeoning new field: the incredible evolution of language The first popular book to recount the exciting, very recent developments in tracing the origins of language, The First Word is at the forefront of a ...
He meant, of course, the goods the villagers got from the Assiniboines, who trafficked between the upper Missouri and the fur-company posts to the north.36 RANKIN STATE PRISON FARM, RANKIN COUNTY, RANKIN STATE PRISON FARM, RANKIN COUNTY ...
The authors of this volume argue that a broad and rigorous education is needed; one that fuses business knowledge with arts and sciences, technology, and ethical training.
Following the publication of Vogt and Albert 1966, however, the study of values in anthropology eventually petered out. According to D'Andrade's (1995, 13ff ) assessment, “The results [of the Harvard Rimrock study] were generally agreed ...
In Light at the Edge of the World, Davis explores the idea that these distinct cultures represent unique visions of life itself and have much to teach the rest of the world about different ways of living and thinking.
From Alfred Russel Wallace, the Englishman who beat Darwin to the theory of natural selection but later renounced it, and through the controversial work of modern-day anthropologist Daniel Everett, who defies the current wisdom that ...
An introduction to animal sleeping habits.