Patterns in the Mind: Language and Human Nature

In a challenging, timely, and persuasive argument, Jackendoff (Brandeis; the scholarly Semantics and Cognition, 1983--not reviewed) proposes that language and, by extension, music and visual experience in part culturally engendered--but that, fundamentally, they're expressions of innate, perhaps even genetic, properties of the brain. Redressing the balance between nature and nurture to explain language, Jackendoff contends that language acquisition, a fundamental characteristic of humanity, depends on a universal mental grammar--a set of unconscious grammatical principles that condition the organization, production, and reception of human speech--that's a form of innate knowledge. Considering the ways in which children acquire language (understanding more than they can say, generating speech they haven't heard); American sign language (of which he offers a brief and cogent history); and the learning- impaired and language-deprived, he explores the concepts of this universal grammar. Jackendoff proposes a physiological basis for language in a specialized area of the brain, which can be identified even though its organization is still a mystery. He then extends these principles of universal grammar and innate knowledge to the understanding of music, visual signs, and, most challenging, social interaction. Meaning is ``constructed'' by the innate patterns of the auditor as well as by the speaker, he says, and, by extension, human experience of the world is ``constructed by'' similar unconscious principles--principles that, unlike Freud's unconscious, can never be brought into awareness. In his discussion of semantics, Jackendoff distinguishes between language and thought, between grammar and concept, and between the translatable and the untranslatable, emphasizing human interaction and its implications for society. A powerful, direct, and tidy argument that vindicates Jackendoff's initial purpose: to make linguistics ``part of every educated individual's intellectual repertoire.'' -- Copyright ©1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

In the late 1950s, Noam Chomsky revolutionized linguistics by proposing that the infant's ability to learn language cannot be explained by simple learning principles but is dependent upon the existence of complex, innate mental structures. Jackendoff explains the current state of Chomskyan theory by organizing his book around the question "What do we need in order to be able to talk?" In order to find an answer, he reviews fascinating material from developmental psychology, neurology, and the cognitive sciences as well as linguistics. He goes beyond the standard linguistics arguments to posit the existence of parallel mental structures governing other processes such as music and vision. The author is that rare creature, an academic who can convey his fascination with his field to the general reader. Highly recommended for all academic libraries, as well as for public libraries serving an educated populace.
- Mary Ann Hughes, Neill P.L., Pullman, Wa.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Jackendorf updates the ground-breaking investigation into human language introduced by Noam Chomsky as "generative linguistics," in a conversational, accessible style. After reviewing current language theories, he links language to broader human capabilities, his ideas founded on the hypothesis that there exists a genetically determined specialization for language that embeds grammatical principles within the human brain. Human experience, in this view, is constructed out of such principles, which operate in music, vision, and, most speculatively, in social organization. Jackendorf also introduces the reader to research suggesting that there are structural similarities between signed and spoken language, that creole languages are created by children, and that there is a link among adult language impairments, language development in children, and the age factor in both. Helpful restatements at chapter ends and a reading list organized by topic encourage mastery of areas only touched upon in Jackendorf's discussion. Virginia Dwyer