Pinker, Steven

Today, controversies rage as to whether the Inuit really have richer vocabularies for snow than do English speakers. Many English snow-related words do indeed exist, like sleet, slush, blizzard, and others that are not as commonly spoken. Psychologist Steven Pinker calls the idea that the Inuit have more words for snow than English the Great Eskimo Vocabulary Hoax. ... 

Steven Pinker, "Facts about human language relevant to its evolution" in origins of the Human Brain, Jean-Pierre Changeux and Jean Chavaillon, editors, A Fyssen Foundation Symposium, clarendon Press, Oxford, chl7. (back)... 

Steven Pinker, The Language Instinct How the Mind Creates Language (New York HarperCollins, 2000). 

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