Don’t Sleep, There Are Snakes summary

While living with the Pirahã, the author, Daniel Everett, received his field supplies every eight weeks, but the Pirahã would constantly ask him when the supply plane would arrive. While this initially confused him, he eventually understood: they were astounded by his ability to know the exact day the plane would arrive.

This fascination was due to the fact that the Pirahã have no system for counting. Instead of numbers, they use comparative terms such as “bigger” or “smaller.” To them, two fish are “bigger” than one fish, just as one large fish is “bigger” than a minnow.

The Pirahã haven’t had much in the way of contact with other cultures. As a result, they value first-hand experience and knowledge above all else. This may be why missionary Christians have had such a tough time trying to bring the gospel to them!

Their matter-of-fact engagement with the world is echoed in the fundamentals of the Pirahã language. Let’s consider their use of suffixes, the particles added to the end of a word to modify its meaning. Take the English suffix “-ful.” This creates an adjective from a noun and gives the quality of “fullness” to it, as with “beautiful” or “colorful.”

During one particular journey down the Amazon River, Everett steered his motorboat out of the way of a floating log, which can be dangerous for small boats. What he hadn’t expected, and simply hadn’t conceived of, was that the log could actually be a giant anaconda. It emerged from the water and nearly landed right in his boat.

Similarly, the Pirahã have trouble comprehending previously unencountered phenomena. To them, for example, two-dimensional images are meaningless.

Have you ever wondered just how many languages there are in the world? Well, while there are a jaw-dropping 6,500 in total, about half of them are under threat and could potentially disappear within the next 50 to 100 years.

There are two ways language extinction occurs. First, languages can die out if the people who speak them are themselves at risk. This can happen through war or famine, or if foreigners start to threaten local ways of life.