Writing is a relative latecomer to the history of language. This program tracks its emergence in Mesopotamia, China, and Mesoamerica and its spread down through the millennia via conquest—usually violent, sometimes benign—and colonization. The creation of creoles and pidgins resulting from the interaction of specific populations is also addressed, and speculation is made about the first things to be written down. Noam Chomsky; Peter Daniels, coeditor of The World’s Writing Systems; the Manhattan Institute’s John McWhorter; MIT’s Michel DeGraff; and Salikoko Mufwene, of The University of Chicago, contribute. (48 minutes)

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Part of the Series : Speaking in Tongues: The History of Language

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		Voices of the World: The Extinction of Language and Linguistic Diversity "The world is a mosaic of visions, and each vision is encapsulated by a language." Yet every two weeks, one of the world's approximately 6,500 languages dies out. What is the significance of this loss to those who speak the language as well as for th...(more details)		VHS $169.95 DVD $169.95 DVD + 3-Year Streaming $254.93 3-Year Streaming $169.95
		Multilingual Hong Kong: A Sociolinguistic Case Study of Code-Switching Using multilingual Hong Kong as a case in point, this program makes the hot-button phenomenon known as language-mixing easily accessible to any viewer through interviews with dozens of Hong Kong residents. Their explanations of why and when they mix ...(more details)		VHS $149.95 DVD (Chaptered) $149.95 DVD + 3-Year Streaming $224.93 3-Year Streaming $149.95
		No Bone Unturned: Bioarchaeology and Forensic Anthropology This ABC News program spotlights the work of Doug Owsley, curator at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History, who is a keen interpreter of the silent yet expressive language of bones. Owsley and his biographer, Jeff Benedict,...(more details)		VHS $49.95 DVD $49.95 DVD + 3-Year Streaming $74.93 3-Year Streaming $49.95
		The Last Neandertal: Competing Theories of Human Origins Among scientists, Africa is the undisputed birthplace of humanity. But anthropologists are split into two camps over other questions. How many waves of Homo sapiens migrated out of Africa? Did other highly developed hominid species-such as Homo neand...(more details)		VHS $179.95 DVD (Chaptered) $179.95 DVD + 3-Year Streaming $269.93 3-Year Streaming $179.95
		Let There Be Words: The Origin of Human Language What precisely is language, and how did humans acquire it? In an effort to answer those essential questions, this program journeys back to prehistoric times in search of language's origin. But this is not a passive discussion, as Noam Chomsky; Brown ...(more details)		VHS $169.95 DVD (Chaptered) $169.95 DVD + 3-Year Streaming $254.93 3-Year Streaming $169.95

See additional titles in Elements of Language | Human Communication | Curriculum & Instruction | Cultural Anthropology