Voices of Man

Originally published in 1964, this book examines where and how the pattern and texture of speech emerged and whether language is logical. It looks at linguistics from both the historical and descriptive points of view, as a physical science and as a social science. It also discusses the problem of aesthetics in language and what happens when different languages come into contact with each other. The book concludes with a discussion of the possibility of an international language, and indeed whether such a development would be progress or something that is needed or wanted.

Mario Pei was Professor of Romance Philology at Columbia University, USA.

Introduction: A Brief History of Linguistics 1. The Origin and Nature of Language 2. Logic and Universality in Language 3. Law or Free Choice? 4. Monogenesis or Polygenesis? 5. Language, Race, Nationality and Religion 6. Classification 7. Advantages and Disadvantages of the Comparative Method 8. Descriptivism vs Historicism 9. Linguistics: A Physical or Social Science ? 10. Esthetics in Language 11. Languages in Contact 12. Meaning in Language 13. Authority vs Usage 14. The Spoken vs. the Written Language 15. The International Language.