I-Language: An Introduction to Linguistics as Cognitive Science

by Daniela Isac, Charles Reiss

Overview

The book introduces the major branches of theoretical linguistics - phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics - in the context of cognitive science, with reference to fields such as vision, auditory perception and philosophy of mind.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780199660179
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	01/06/2013
Series:	Oxford Core Linguistics
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	392
Product dimensions:	6.70(w) x 9.50(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Daniela Isac is Assistant Professor of Linguistics at Concordia University. She has taught at the University of Bucharest and held research fellowships at the universities of Oxford and Quebec. Her published work includes articles in Revue Roumaine de Linguistique and Linguistic Inquiry.
Charles Reiss is Associate Professor of Linguistics at Concordia University, Montreal, co-editor with Gillian Ramchand of The Oxford Handbook of Linguistic Interfaces (OUP 2007), and co-author with Mark Hale of The Phonological Enterprise (OUP 2008).

Table of Contents

Part I: The Object of Inquiry1. What is I-Language? 2. I-everything: Triangles, streams, words3. Approaches to the Study of Language4. I-/E-/P-LanguagePart II: Linguistic Representation and Computation5. A Syntactic Theory That Won't Work6. Abstract Representations7. Some Details of Sentence Structure8. Binding9. ErgativityPart III: Universal Grammar10. Approaches to UG: Empirical Evidence11. Approaches to UG: LogicPart IV: Implications and Conclusions12. Social Implications13. Rationalist Explorations14. Open Questions and Closing RemarksReferencesIndex

Editorial Reviews

"This book is an engaging and pioneering introduction to Biolinguistic theory construction and scientific method. It's one of very few texts I've ever read that clarifies, with formal yet accessible linguistic analyses and argument, the Chomskyan shift in focus away from treating human language as some kind of non-psychological human-external entity to the study of human language as "I-language" - a cognitive system embedded within the mind/brain of each individual." —Dr Samuel Epstein, University of Michigan

"Strikingly original and fully student-oriented, this book covers all the bases of modern linguistic theory from a single perspective: the workings of the human mind. Breaking with the traditional organization of a linguistics textbook, Isac and Reiss juxtapose an engaging presentation of linguistic analysis with exciting discussion of relevant aspects from cognitive science and philosophy. This is arguably the most stimulating introductory textbook around today, offering an approach that I now know was sorely missed." —Jan-Wouter Zwart, University of Groningen

From the Publisher