Written in Stone
A Journey Through the Stone Age and the Origins of Modern Language
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Written in Stone
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Narrated by:
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Michael Healy
About this listen
Half the world's population speaks a language that has evolved from a single prehistoric mother tongue. First spoken in Stone Age times on the steppes of central Eurasia 6,500 years ago, this mother tongue spread from the shores of the Black Sea across almost all of Europe and much of Asia. It is the genetic basis of everything we speak and write today - the DNA of language.
Written in Stone combines detective work, mythology, ancient history, archaeology, the roots of society, technology and warfare, and the sheer fascination of words to explore that original mother tongue, sketching the connections woven throughout the immense vocabulary of English, with some surprising results. In snappy, lively, and often very funny chapters, Written in Stone uncovers the most influential and important words used by our Neolithic ancestors and shows how they are still in constant use today - the building blocks of all our most common words and phrases.
©2015 Christopher Stevens (P)2015 TantorListeners also enjoyed...
Critic reviews
What listeners say about Written in Stone
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- June
- 05-12-15
Good if you have no knowledge of linguistics
What made the experience of listening to Written in Stone the most enjoyable?
I think this book is good for someone with no prior knowledge of the subject as it is organised logically and does not use many technical terms. The author also uses examples from everyday language to make points and even attemps a joke occasionally. The book does a surprisingly good job of giving an overview of the Stone Age roots of language considering its medium length.
Who was your favorite character and why?
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Which scene did you most enjoy?
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Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?
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Any additional comments?
I found the narration alright but I think some people might find it flat.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Mark Springham
- 20-08-23
Great subject but terribly presented
loved the concept of this book but presentation is drab to say the least
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Overall1 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story1 out of 5 stars
- Clare
- 09-03-17
Disappointing
If this book wasn’t for you, who do you think might enjoy it more?
I thought I would enjoy this book, as I'm very interested in the subject matter. But the book is a very short introduction of the development of the theory of a proto-Indo European language, followed by chapter after chapter exploring examples of words in English ( and to a lesser extent other languages ) that the writer claims come from those simple original words. This is mildly interesting for a few goes but soon becomes tedious, especially as there seems to be quite a lot of cherry-picking for words that suit. He doesn't at all explore the interesting part of the theory: how on earth do they *know* what our pre-historic ancestors spoke like? I'd hesitate to recommend this book to anyone.
What will your next listen be?
Possibly something by David Crystal.
Which character – as performed by Michael Healy – was your favourite?
Not applicable
You didn’t love this book--but did it have any redeeming qualities?
The introduction isn't bad.
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1 person found this helpful