Table of Contents

1: Creating language
2: Beyond symbols and signals
3: A sense of structure
4: The question of Psammetichus
5: Impossible patterns
6: All in the mind
7: A law of language
8: Botlang
9: Merge
10: Grammar and culture

About the Author

David Adger is Professor of Linguistics at Queen Mary University of London, current President of the Linguistics Association of Great Britain, and inventor of the monsters' language for the ITV series Beowulf. His research has been reported on in New Scientist and The Conversation, and he has appeared on Sky News, BBC Radio 4, and Australia's DriveTime. His 25 years of teaching have taken him all over the world, including to the foothills
of the Himalayas.

Reviews

[Adger's] tour of Chomskyan linguistics is entertaining and accessible - in contrast to Chomsky's own notoriously baffling prose. The book is a handy introduction to a vexed debate on the infinite power of the finite mortal mind.
*The Economist*

Adger's highly-referenced 250-pager explores with vigour and thoroughness I've rarely seen in a book ... a book to [the] bookshelf.
*Jane Denny, Chemistry World*

[I]n my opinion the best attempt ever made to explain the linguistic framework within which Adger works - that of Noam Chomsky. The book is very readable without ever being childish, light in tone without being annoyingly funny, and clear about the author's point of view without being polemical.
*Marc Van Oostendorp, Neerlandistiek*

I wish there were more linguistics professors bringing their A-game to a larger audience like this.
*Superlinguo*

Adger [...] describes the situation carefully, clearly, and engagingly, using copious examples and analogies to communicate some really subtle points ... I definitely recommend the book for people who are interested in the scientific approach to language ... I congratulate Adger on this strong work that makes extraordinarily abstract concepts clear.
*Separated by a Common Language*

In summary, a useful... book for linguists and students of linguistics, fascinatingly written and using research from around the world to show how different language groups, people with different types of speech impairment and animals all search for meaning and how to communicate it in their own way.
*Barry Tomalin, Training, Language & Culture*

A delightful journey through the many fascinating aspects of language, its nature and use, its richness and variety and its deep commonalities, beginning with the simplest observations and reaching to the borders of inquiry, interleaved with striking illustrations from a wide variety of languages and illuminating the way with results from experimental, animal, and computational research. A wonderful experience.
*Noam Chomsky*

A highly readable introduction to some of the big questions in linguistics. I'd recommend this lucid and engaging book to both the amateur language enthusiast and the beginning linguistics student. Adger writes with true depth of understanding and generosity towards the broader field of linguistics.
*Gretchen McCulloch, co-host of the Lingthusiasm podcast and author of Because Internet: Understanding the New Rules of Language*

Captivating. Adger makes the simple but profound observation that language is more than communication.
*Kevin Berger, Nautilus*

Language Unlimited is a must for any linguistic enthusiastic.
*María Florencia Silva, Linguist List*