From the dawn of time to the mid-twentieth century...Mario Pei discusses the formation and development of language - the weapon by which mankind has advanced from savagery to civilization. 

New features in this revised edition: 

• A new chapter on "SELF-DESIGNATION" discusses the names by which countries and people call themselves, as opposed to the names outsiders give them. 

• A new chapter on "LANGUAGE AND PSYCHOLOGY" covers one of the mysterious areas of language - the connection of words with the mental processes of both the individual and the social group. 

• Detailed discussion of such additional languages as Vietnamese and the African tongues. 

• New material on nonlinguistic systems of communication, such as gestural and symbolic language, and animal talk. 

• Most recent findings on the origin of language and how a child learns to speak. 

• Coverage of slang (American, British, foreign); underworld cant and professional jargons; government gobbledygook; the language of euphemism, politeness and insult brought up to date.