The Unfolding of Language

As a complete novice in linguistics, this book was a super fun read. Guy Deutscher guides us through the marvels of language, but I didn't feel overwhelmed at the information provided.

This was a brilliant read! This book has really changed my view on so many aspects of language. I'm pretty sure from now on there will be many more situations of analysing random words of the languages I speak and learn.

Disclaimer: I only read 30% of this book, but found I was completely incapable of keeping going. It's a light and fluffy pop-sci approach to the history of language, which panders easy realizations (of course language is evolving – it doesn't take three chapters to grab this concept) and straw-mans just-so theories in an attempt to sound more convincing (I really, really hope they are straw-men). In the third of the book I read, I did not find a single takeaway. If you're looking for an interesting book on language, look elsewhere.