Every Word Is a Bird We Teach to Sing : Encounters with the Mysteries and Meanings of Language

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 Blaer 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.;Finding my voice -- The language teacher -- You are what you say -- A poet savant -- Cuecueiuca -- A clockwork language -- The man who was Friday -- Icelandic names -- Dead man talking -- An Englishman at l'Académie Française -- OuLiPo -- Talking hands -- Translating faithfully -- A grammar of the telephone -- Conversational human. 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. 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. Tammet goes back in time to explore the numeric language of his autistic childhood; he looks at the music and patterns that words make, and how languages evolve and are translated. He meets one of the world's most accomplished lip readers in Canada, learns how endangered languages like Manx are being revived and corresponds with native speakers of Esperanto in their mother tongue. He studies the grammar of the telephone, contemplates the significance of disappearing dialects, and also asks: will chatbots ever manage to convince us that they are human? From the art of translation to the lyricism of sign language, "Every Word is a Bird We Teach to Sing" is a fascinating journey through the world of words, letters, stories and meanings, and an extraordinary testament to the stunning range of Tammet's literary and polyglot talents From the author of Thinking in Numbers , an engaging, eclectic, mind-expanding exploration of language, and what it can teach us about our lives. Do birds really "talk?" What language did Jesus speak? Will ongoing advances in technology ever produce true human-machine dialogue? In EVERY WORD IS A BIRD WE TEACH TO SING, author of the bestsellers Born on a Blue Day and Thinking in Numbers , language savant and polyglot Daniel Tammet turns his attention to the world of language and how it shapes the human experience. Tammet goes back in time to London to explore his autistic childhood language of numbers; 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 and contrives an "e"-less essay on lipograms. From native Esperanto speakers and Queen Elizabeth's French, to spatial semantics and aspirational vowels, EVERY WORD IS A BIRD WE... Language Arts & Disciplines / Linguistics / General, Philosophy / Language, Social Science / Essays