Every Word Is a Bird We Teach to Sing
Encounters with the Mysteries and Meanings of Language
Ratings3
Average rating4
15
Encounters with the Mysteries and Meanings of Language
Ratings3
Average rating4
A mind-expanding, deeply humane tour of language by the bestselling author of Born on a Blue Day and Thinking in Numbers. Is vocabulary destiny? Why do clocks "talk" to the Nahua people of Mexico? Will A.I. researchers ever produce true human-machine dialogue? In this mesmerizing collection of essays, Daniel Tammet answers these and many other questions about the intricacy and profound power of language. In Every Word Is a Bird We Teach to Sing, Tammet goes back in time to London to explore the numeric language of his autistic childhood; in Iceland, he learns why the name Blær became a court case; in Canada, he meets one of the world's most accomplished lip readers. He chats with chatbots; contrives an "e"-less essay on lipograms; studies the grammar of the telephone; contemplates the significance of disappearing dialects; and corresponds with native Esperanto speakers - in their mother tongue. A joyous romp through the world of words, letters, stories, and meanings, Every Word Is a Bird We Teach to Sing explores the way communication shapes reality. From the art of translation to the lyricism of sign language, these essays display the stunning range of Tammet's literary and polyglot talents.
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Tamment has mild autism, synesthesia and a unique relationship to language. For him words don't just hold meaning, but they also ring and shine and sparkle. He prefers his words to harmonise, visually and sonically, and to build sentences with care. Reading him describe his love of words, made me slow down and notice the beauty of his words. His chapters deal with his personal discovery of language, novel ways of teaching language, the history and current state of Esperanto, identity through language in ex colonies, preserving the Icelandic language, sign language, and the collaborative game of conversing on the phone. I was more enchanted with his personal stories at the beginning, and sped through some of the later chapters, but all in all this is a beautiful compendium on language and word tales.
