Words And Rules (Paperback)
Language: English
Published by Orion Publishing Co, London, 2001
Series: Book 14 of 14 - Science Masters
- Softcover
- New

Seller: Grand Eagle Retail, Bensenville, IL, U.S.A.Grand Eagle Retail
AbeBooks seller since October 12, 2005
Condition: New
US$ 24.74
Quantity: 1 available
Add to basketItem description from seller
Paperback. How does language work? How do children learn their mother tongue? Why do languages change over time, making Chaucer's English almost incomprehensible? Steven Pinker explains the profound mysteries of language by picking a deceptively simple single phenomenon and examining it from every angle. That phenomenon - the existence of regular and irregular verbs - connects an astonishing array of topics in the sciences and humanities: the history of languages; the illuminating errors of children as they begin to speak; the sources of the major themes in the history of Western philosophy; the latest techniques in identifying genes and imaging the living brain. Pinker makes sense of all of this with the help of a single, powerful idea: that language comprises a mental dictionary of memorized words and a mental grammar of creative rules. An account of how language actually works. Shipping may be from multiple locations in the US or from the UK, depending on stock availability.
Seller Inventory # 9780753810255
- Title
- Words And Rules (Paperback)
- Author
- Prof Steven Pinker
- Publisher
- Orion Publishing Co, London
- Publication year
- 2001
- Condition
- new
- Binding
- Paperback
- Language
- English
- ISBN 10
- 0753810255
- ISBN 13
- 9780753810255
- Series
- Book 14 of 14: Science Masters
"Synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.
Review
Pinker's enthusiasm for the subject infects the reader, particularly as he emphasizes the relation between how we communicate and how we think. What does it mean that a small child who has never heard the word wug can tell a researcher that when one wug meets another, there are two wugs? Some rule must be telling the child that English plurals end in -s, which also explains mistakes like mouses. Is our communication linked inextricably with our thinking? Pinker says yes, and it's hard to disagree. Words and Rules is an excellent introduction to and overview of current thinking about language, and will greatly reward the careful reader with new ways of thinking about how we think, talk, and write. --Rob Lightner
"About the title" may belong to another edition of this title.
Grand Eagle Retail
Bensenville, IL, U.S.A.
AbeBooks seller since October 12, 2005
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