NATIONAL BESTSELLER The 7 LANGUAGE NASB INGaR How WO Whee Creates Tare 5 PE@ EN SN KEThe Language Instinct Steven Pinker zS ta O38for Harry and Roslyn Pinker who gave me language This book was originally published in 1994 by William Morrow and Company. It is here reprinted by arrangement with William Morrow and Company. THE LANGUAGE INSTINCT. Copyright © 1994 by Steven Pinker. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. For information address William Morrow and Company, Inc., 1350 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10019. HarperCollins books may be purchased for educational, business, or sales promo- tional use. For information please write: Special Markets Department, Harper- Collins Publishers, Inc., 10 East 53rd Street, New York, NY 10022. First HarperPerennial edition published 1995. Designed by Charlotte Staub Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Pinker, Steven, 1954— The language instinct / [Steven Pinker]. p. cm. Originally published: New York : W. Morrow and Co., c1994. Includes index. ISBN 0-06-097651-9 (alk. paper) 1. Language and languages. 2. Biolinguistics. I. Title. P106.P476 1995 400—dc20 94-39138 95 9% 97 98 99 RRD 10 9 8 7 6