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

by Daniel Tammet

Overview

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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780316353076
Publisher:	Little, Brown and Company
Publication date:	10/16/2018
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	272
Product dimensions:	5.62(w) x 8.38(h) x 0.75(d)

About the Author

Daniel Tammet is an essayist, novelist and translator. He is the author of Thinking in Numbers, Embracing the Wide Sky, and the New York Times bestseller Born on a Blue Day. Tammet is Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (FRSA). He lives in Paris.

Table of Contents

1 Finding My Voice 3

2 The Language Teacher 18

3 You Are What You Say 39

4 A Poet Savant 53

5 Cuecueiuca 76

6 A Clockwork Language 83

7 The Man Who Was Friday 111

8 Icelandic Names 126

9 Dead Man Talking 140

10 An Englishman at L'Académie Française 164

11 OuLiPo 187

12 Talking Hands 197

13 Translating Faithfully 207

14 A Grammar of the Telephone 222

15 Conversational Human 239

Acknowledgments 260

Editorial Reviews

07/10/2017
“Words have been knots of beauty and mystery as long as I can remember,” writes the author of this insightful collection of 15 essays that explore language and its underappreciated nuances. The title, taken from the final line of the essay “You Are What You Say,” extols how we “animate words with our imagination” in order to communicate with one another. Tammet (Thinking in Numbers) has high-functioning autism and he relates how, when young, he thought not in words but numbers, each one assigned a different meaning—89, for instance, meant “snow.” Although his condition initially made him socially withdrawn, it taught him an appreciation of the different ways in which we confer meaning on words and vocabulary. His essays include personal accounts of his experiences teaching English to Lithuanian students and interacting with psychologists studying speech patterns, a history of the would-be universal language Esperanto, and appreciations of the works of Australian poet Les Murray (himself autistic) and of writers working in the indigenous Nahuatl language of Mexico and Kikuyu language of Kenya. Tammet is generous in his acceptance of many different forms and styles of communication. His essays will be eye-openers for anyone who takes the meaning of words on the printed page for granted. Agent: Andrew Lownie, Andrew Lownie Literary Agency. (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly

"A fascinating journey through language and some of its many varied forms and uses."—Booklist (starred review)

"Like Oliver Sacks' compendium of rare neurological anomalies, Tammet's intriguing cases of linguistic idiosyncrasies expand our notions on what it means to be human. He gives insight ranging from cultural perception and social dominance, to the features of Esperanto as a universal language. Most fascinating is Tammet's own astonishing linguistic mind, in which a single word evokes fully textured experiences — an innate ability that would dazzle any storyteller in love with words and their deepest meanings."—Amy Tan

"[An] insightful collection of 15 essays that explore language and its underappreciated nuances... Tammet is generous in his acceptance of many different forms and styles of communication. His essays will be eye-openers for anyone who takes the meaning of words on the printed page for granted."
—Publishers Weekly

"Tammet's voice — witty, thoughtful and erudite — pulls readers along. His enthusiasm for language makes such niche topics as Icelandic baby names and the intricacies of L'Academie Francaise fascinating and accessible."—Shelf Awareness

"A cerebral jaunt though spoken, printed, championed and neglected words....Through Tammet's beautifully written explanations of the way his mind comprehends words (many words — the author speaks 11 languages), readers may discover trapdoors flinging open in their own brains, revealing head-cocking perspectives on how to get one's point across."
—Washington Post

"Tammet takes us on a series of thought-provoking journeys as he probes the depth and intricacies of how language profoundly affects behavior at every social and political level. Through these memoir-like essays, Tammet demonstrates his eclectic approach to an exploration of the richness of language and its profound effect on his own life and those about whom he writes... this whirlwind narrative mirrors the author's polyglot talents... Those interested in language, words, meaning, and sociolinguistics will find this slim volume to be a transforming read. General readers will also find this highly readable work engaging."—Library Journal

Praise for Thinking in Numbers

"Enlarges one's wonder at Tammet's mind and his all-embracing vision of the world as grounded in numbers." —Oliver Sacks, MD

"A book about words and language might sound dry or lofty, but Tammet's writing is lucid, thoughtful and often funny, drawing readers in and leaving us thinking a little differently about language."

—Sarah McCraw Crow, Bookpage

"A delightful, diverse collection of essays. Great fun and the perfect gift for any math-phobic person, young or old." —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

"Tammet is a master of gleaning profound insights from seemingly mundane trivia...This is a delightful book." —Publishers Weekly (starred and boxed review)

"Whether or not readers consider themselves mathematically inclined, they will be enthralled. This book will charm just about anyone." —Library Journal (starred review)

"A mind-expanding, kinetic aesthetic experience. Tammet's poetic mathematics are beautiful guideposts for thinking about life and even love." —Amy Tan

"A engrossing blend of autobiography, mathematical theory, and 'what if' speculations, Daniel Tammet's essays allow us to see the world through the lens of numbers. The result is fascinating, even dizzying series of fresh perspectives on things we thought we knew." —Billy Collins

"Always informative, always entertaining, Daniel Tammet never loses his respect for the mystery of the universe of number." —J. M. Coetzee

"How many mathematicians are dazzling storytellers as well? What a joy to read an author whose dexterity with digits is matched by his wisdom with words." —David Eagleman, PhD, neuroscientist, author of Incognito and Sum

"Intriguing, provocative - to wrestle with numbers in this way is an adventure." —Lydia Davis, author of The Collected Stories of Lydia Davis

"Thinking in Numbers is a magnificently, movingly peculiar and wise book." —Kurt Andersen, author of True Believers and host of Studio 360

"With Einsteinian elegance, Tammet recasts our perceptions of the human experience in this extraordinary collection of essays. His remarkable talent for expression—for enlightening, moving, and transforming his reader—reveals a rare combination of ingenuity and artistry." —David Finch, author of The Journal of Best Practices

From the Publisher

08/01/2017
Writer and linguist Tammet (Thinking in Numbers; Embracing the Wide Sky) takes us on a series of thought-provoking journeys as he probes the depth and intricacies of how language profoundly affects behavior at every social and political level. Through these memoirlike essays, Tammet demonstrates his eclectic approach to an exploration of the richness of language and its profound effect on his own life and those about whom he writes. From his childhood characterized by "high-function" autism, in which he saw language as numeric, to his encounters with and critique of Esperanto, this whirlwind narrative mirrors the author's polyglot talents. The chapter on the Icelandic language is especially compelling as Tammet demonstrates how it became an essential political tool as nationalists sought their independence from Denmark. In spite of the nationalist goal of Icelandic linguistic purity, the grammar has become "malleable" and "words transform the world around us." VERDICTThose interested in language, words, meaning, and sociolinguistics will find this slim volume to be a transforming read. General readers will also find this highly readable work engaging.—Herbert E. Shapiro, Lifelong Learning Soc., Florida Atlantic Univ., Boca Raton

Library Journal

Daniel Tammet's distinct way of thinking provides unique insights into various topics relating to language in this collection of essays. The author, an autistic savant with a gift for language and numbers, delves deeply into these areas, exploring them from angles different from the neurotypical perspective. However, his narration detracts from the essays themselves. His pace often seems ponderous as he delivers long lists of words with peculiar enunciation. While it’s evident that Tammet is intensely interested in his subject matter, his presentation does not translate well to the audio format. S.E.G. © AudioFile 2017, Portland, Maine

DECEMBER 2017 - AudioFile

Daniel Tammet's distinct way of thinking provides unique insights into various topics relating to language in this collection of essays. The author, an autistic savant with a gift for language and numbers, delves deeply into these areas, exploring them from angles different from the neurotypical perspective. However, his narration detracts from the essays themselves. His pace often seems ponderous as he delivers long lists of words with peculiar enunciation. While it’s evident that Tammet is intensely interested in his subject matter, his presentation does not translate well to the audio format. S.E.G. © AudioFile 2017, Portland, Maine

DECEMBER 2017 - AudioFile

2017-07-17
The author of Thinking in Numbers: On Life, Love, Meaning, and Math (2013, etc.) shows us that language is a far more ornately feathered fowl than casual consideration can conceive. Tammet begins with probably the most engaging and revealing section of his entire text: an account of how he, born with "high-functioning autism," learned language, a process involving numbers, colors, poems, and a most fecund imagination. He also shows us—more or less indirectly—the fatuousness of teaching methods that assume and presume that everyone learns in the same way (think: our current obsession with standardized testing). Tammet's directly autobiographical accounts slip into the background as he encourages us to follow him on a kind of intellectual circumnavigation of Planet Language. These chapters cover such subjects as the status of Esperanto, people who write in disappearing languages, political attempts to prevent the language from altering too much, sign language, translation, and conversations with computers. A particularly moving segment involves the study of telephone language—the grammar, the protocols, the unexpected intimacies—a study that led, in one case, to a staged reading of When Cancer Calls, a performance of transcripts of cancer-related calls among family members. The author sometimes tells us more than we may want to know: the section on Esperanto, are overlong, and some of his fascinations with the details of translation will delight, well, translators. It seems he is often determined to tell us the histories of things at the expense of our patience. But there are many moments of delightful and surprising luminescence. In his section about the telephone, he notes how ordinary words and deep emotion are "the freight of every family's telephone line." "Words, words, words," said Hamlet—that brilliant, verbose Dane would find in these pages a most welcome elaboration.

Kirkus Reviews