Finding Our Tongues: Mothers, Infants, and the Origins of Language

Science, social science and language libraries alike at the high school to college levels will appreciate FINDING OUR TONGUES: MOTHERS, INFANTS & THE ORIGINS OF LANGUAGE. It provides a new theory of communication: that parents all over the world in all cultures use 'baby talk' to communicate with their children, and that it's this language that formed the foundation of human language. His discussion of 'motherese' is a delightful piece of original research.

When linguists think about the origins of human language, they are really interested in the origins of grammar. How did grammar come about? For instance, when and why did early people stop naming actual things and start using nouns, like tree and rock, more powerfully as abstract categories with no reference to anything specific in the natural world. At that point a grammatical system, syntax, would be needed to refer to a specific tree or rock, perhaps one not visible at the moment.

Dr. Falk, as an evolutionary anthropologist, approaches the subject of language origin from a different (though complementary) perspective. She is interested, for example, in why humans would communicate with each other at all. How did such an impulse evolve? What is the connection between human messages and human nature? What role did mothering and infant needs play? Out of what other forms of communication, such as gestures and music, might the complex verbal system have taken its cues? Even if one focuses on grammatical issues in language development, it is useful to be aware of the broad view of evolving human nature that Falk presents. And beyond that, her book is a great read, page after page filled with fascinating bits of information about everyone's favorite topic--ourselves.

--Dr. William Murdick, author of "What English Teachers Need to Know about Grammar"

"Finding our Tongues" is an exceptionally well written, informative and entertaining work - a fast read that I couldn't put down. I have spent a significant amount of time studying Spanish in the past 6 months and as a result I experienced several Ah-Ha moments while reading Falk's explanation of the stages of acquiring language. I was inspired by the way that the author pulled together evidence from many disciplines and knitted it all together to support her thesis that the evolution of language was driven by the interactions between mothers and infants and the need to "put the baby down". This would be an excellent book for anyone who has or is planning on having children and who would like to understand the stages of language acquisition. Having read this book I find myself hearing babies cry in a totally different way. If you are interested in the evolution of language, music, art or child development you must read this book!