DİL İÇGÜDÜSÜ: ZİHİN DİLİ NASIL MEYDANA GETİRİR

Instinct is defined in the Psikoloji Sözlüğü as ‘a set of competent, self-directed activities that are innate to any species and organised towards a goal’ (Gürün 1991: 70). For this concept, the same dictionary also includes the expression ‘unlearnt skills that an individual is born with’ (Gürün 1991: 70). With these meanings, the concept of ‘instinct’ is the element that constitutes the main framework in the work that is the subject of this article. Dil İçgüdüsü Zihin Dili Nasıl Meydana Getirir, published by Steven Pinker in 1994 under the original title The Language Instinct: How the Mind Creates Language has been translated into Turkish with the translation of Feray İlgün and the first edition of Bilge Kültür Sanat Yayınları in 2018. This work consists of Pinker's detailed explanations about the concept of language, which he expresses with the help of many disciplines such as neuroscience, anthropology, psychology, biology as well as linguistics. In the work, Pinker's view that language is not acquired by learning and that human beings are innately equipped with this ability is explained by analysing the views of names such as Chomsky, Darwin, Sapir, Whorf under different headings with the concept of instinct, and examples of language-related issues are given in English. The content of the work includes an Önsöz; thirteen chapters titled Bir Sanat Edinme İçgüdüsü, Gevezeler, Zihince, Dil Nasıl Çalışır, Sözcükler, Sözcükler, Sözcükler, Sessizliğin Sesleri, Konuşan Kafalar, Babil Kulesi, Yeni Doğan Bebek Cennet’i Tasvir Ediyor, Dil Organları ve Dilbilgisi Genleri, Big Bang, Büyük Patlama, Dil Bilirkişileri and Zihin Tasarım; the last section includes Notlar, Kaynakça, Terimler Sözlüğü and Dizin.