Cover image for Words and rules : the ingredients of language / Steven Pinker.
TITLE:
Words and rules : the ingredients of language / Steven Pinker.
Publication Date:
1999
Publication Information:
New York : Basic Books,
Physical Description:
348 p. : ill.
Summary:
Pinker answers questions about the miraculous human ability called language and does it in the gripping, witty style of his other bestsellers. As the stories unfold, the reader is immersed in the evolution of the English language over the centuries, the theories of Noam Chomsky and his critics, the simulation of neural networks on computers, the illuminating errors of children as they begin to speak, the tragic loss of language from neurological disease, and more illustrations using humorous wordplay than anyone would have thought possible. Pinker makes sense of all these phenomena with the help of a single powerful idea: that the essence of language is a mental dictionary of memorized words and a mental grammar of creative rules.Pinker is well known for his skills of explaining the art and science of language.
Language:
English
ISBN:
9780465072699