The Atoms of Language

• Author(s): Mark C. Baker,
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Pages: 276
• ISBN_10: 019860632X
  ISBN_13: 9780198606321
  
• Language: en
• Categories: Language Arts & Disciplines / General , Language Arts & Disciplines / Linguistics / General , Language Arts & Disciplines / Linguistics / Semantics ,

Description:... Human languages are strikingly different from each other, and also strikingly the same. One of the most indecipherable codes used in World War II was Navajos speaking their native language. Yet the Navajos were able to translate messages to and from English quickly and accurately. This shows that, for all their differences, languages must have a strong common denominator. Linguistic research is discovering that, in spite of the differences among human languages, the underlying rules that form them are virtually identical.