Language Rules! - Softcover

Pereltsvaig, Asya M.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 100965828X ISBN 13: 9781009658287

Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 2026

Synopsis

What are the key design elements of human language? How does it work? What makes it different from how animals communicate and convey information? How did it evolve, biologically speaking? In what respects do animals fail to do what we humans do so effortlessly? Language is a uniquely human trait, but without a degree in linguistics, it is difficult to comprehend how it works. This fascinating book addresses these and related questions in a lively and engaging way, and demonstrates the 'nuts and bolts' of how language actually works. Readers are introduced to key discoveries in the study of language, such as Chomsky's ideas about 'language faculty', and parallels are drawn with well-known issues in science, such as 'flat earth', the nature-nurture debate, and the teaching of language to apes. Language – something so universal to all human experience – is a fascinating cognitive system, and this book explains how, and why.

About this title

About the Author

Asya M. Pereltsvaig has taught linguistics at Yale and Stanford, and has been teaching in several lifelong education programs since 2010. Her most recent book, Languages of the World: An Introduction, 4th edition (2023) was also published by Cambridge University Press.

Edition details

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Publication date: 2026
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 100965828X
• ISBN 13: 9781009658287
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 296