Click any section title to reveal its chapters.
Section I · Language Origins
- Ch. 1Language Families – Language History – Etymology
- Ch. 2Language Origins – Begin the Beguine: Language Myths – Language Origin – Language Families – Indo European
- Ch. 3Language Origins – Large Brains – Tools – Sequenced Art – Combinatory Systems and Microlith Technology
- Ch. 4Communication Before Speech – Social Animals
- Ch. 5Thoughts Without Language – The Resting Brain is not a Quiescent Brain; The Connection Between Sight and Sound; Autism – Thinking in Pictures
Section II · Mental Underpinning of Speech
- Ch. 6Qualities of Thought, Social Intelligence, A Theory of Mind, Feature & Pattern Recognition, Large Brains or Speech?
- Ch. 7Three Cs: An Introduction to the Connections, Context, and the Icons that Define Us; Mistakes in Connections and Context
- Ch. 8Foundations of Language – Categories of Thought – Categories in Language
- Ch. 9Foundations of Language – Combinatory Culture – Microlith Technology
Section III · The Seeds of Language — Gestures, Facial Expression, Body Posture, Vocalization
- Ch. 10A Time Before Speech: The Resting Brain is not a Quiescent Brain – Thoughts Moving Across Time – The Profound Connection Between Sight and Sound; Thinking in Pictures, Temple Grandin
- Ch. 11Precursors to the Flow of Speech – Mother-Baby Talk, Religious Chants, Language and Storytelling, Chimpanzees, Tilda an Orangutan, Birdsong, Parrots, and Instinctual vs. Learned Vocalization
- Ch. 12Foundation Sequenced Movement
- Ch. 13Nonverbal Communication: Gesture, Facial Expression, Pantomime – The Way We Were
- Ch. 14Calls, Cries, and Profanity
- Ch. 15From Gesture to Words
Section IV · Words
- Ch. 16First Words – The First Naming Words – Mothers Locating Children – Signing by Primates – Breakthrough: Pairing Sound with Meaning
- Ch. 17Repurposing Explained – A Breakthrough Innovation
- Ch. 18A Garden of Images and Association: New Words from Old — Kitchen, War, Weather, Time, Form and Function, Tools, Flowers, Grammar, Imagery with Verbs, Adjectives, and Prepositional Phrases
- Ch. 19New Words from Old – Compounds, Blending, Portmanteau, Affixing, Generalization, "It got verbed," Borrowing from Other Languages, People & Products
- Ch. 20A Lattice of Images – Lateral Images (Soft, Make), Connotative Images (Positive, Negative), Euphemism, Puns
- Ch. 21Metaphors, Literary and a Whole Lot More
- Ch. 22Hidden Images: A Buried Treasure – An Archeological Dig
Section V · From Words to Phrases
- Ch. 23The Missing Link – From Words to Phrases – Morphology (grammar within the word) and Syntax (grammar within the phrase) – Root Small Clauses
- Ch. 24The Golden Triangle – Subjects, Verbs and Complements
- Ch. 25The Phrase
- Ch. 26Conjunctions – Supporting Cast: Adjectives and Adverbs
Section VI · Syntax: The Invisible Grammar that Holds Language Together
- Ch. 27Syntax: Variety and Limits – An Overview
- Ch. 28Deep Structures – The Debate
- Ch. 29Merge: Building Language from the Ground Up
- Ch. 30Generative Grammar – Strengths and Limits
- Ch. 31Syntax: Parameters and Constraints – An Introduction: Music Mixing Console, Evo-Devo
- Ch. 32Syntax: The Choices We Make
Section VII · The Many Purposes of Language
- Ch. 33The Underlying Purpose of Language – Making Connections, Bonding
- Ch. 34Making Connections: Five Levels of Verbal Communication
- Ch. 35Information Exchange – The Gift that Keeps on Giving: Concepts, Ideas and Information
- Ch. 36On the Dark Side: Competition for Status, Wealth and Power
- Ch. 37Language and Storytelling – An Intimate Bond
- Ch. 38An Inner Voice
Section VIII · Language Change
- Ch. 39The Shifting Sands of Speech – An Overview
- Ch. 40Words on the Move – Slang – Language Change by Fashion
- Ch. 41Mistakes Happen
- Ch. 42Shortcuts – A Sure Path to Language Change
Section IX · Language and Identity
- Ch. 43The Shifting Sands of Language and Culture
- Ch. 44Accents – Identity and Individuality – Stability and Change
- Ch. 45Language and Identity – Inclusion and Exclusion
- Ch. 46Words Matter
Section X · The Interconnected Tracks of Language
- Ch. 47The Interconnected Tracks of Language – Introduction
- Ch. 48A Piano Prodigy: Joey Sila
- Ch. 49Part 1. Impulse & Breath
- Ch. 50Part 2. Meet the Articulators – The Vocal Cords, Tongue, Teeth, Lips, Mouth, and Nose are all players – Phonemes Explained
Section XI · The Brain on Language
- Ch. 51The Brain: Historical Overview – How We Got Here
- Ch. 52Part 1. The Brain on Language: Survey of Neurological Research
- Ch. 53Part 2. The Brain on Language: Survey of Neurological Research
- Ch. 54Part 3. The Brain on Language: What We Don't Know About the Brain is a Lot
- Ch. 55Part 4. The Brain on Language: Programmed or Voluntary?
Section XII · Conversation
- Ch. 56Conversation – The Point – It's Like Baseball
- Ch. 57Traffic Signs on the Conversation Highway
- Ch. 58Illuminating Word Search Errors
- Ch. 59Conversation Styles – It Takes Two to Tango
Section XIII · Language Hard-Wired
- Ch. 60Language – There's an App for That
- Ch. 61The Language App: Development and Evidence
- Ch. 62Language Download – Window of Opportunity
- Ch. 63Language Impairment – Clues that Language is Hard-Wired
Section XIV · Genes to Language
- Ch. 64Regulatory Genes and Gene Expression – Constructing Language from the Ground Up
- Ch. 65Epigenetic Signals and Language
- Ch. 66The Baldwin Effect: How Language Sidestepped Learning and Made a Home in Our Genes
- Ch. 67Speech from Impulse to Conversation – How It Happens
- Ch. 68A Story on the Savanna – Putting It All Together