Language, Mind and Brain: Some Psychological and Neurological Constraints on Theories of Grammar / Edition 1

by Ewa Dabrowska

Overview

Language, Mind and Brain is a delightfully readable, yet erudite exploration of how the human mind processes and orders sounds and words into meaning. It explores how properties of the human mind/brain constrain linguistic structure and how linguistics can benefit by combining traditional linguistic methodologies with insights from research on language acquisition, processing, and impairment. The first part of the book offers a useful introduction to the relevant issues for readers with little prior knowledge of these disciplines; part two addresses such key issues as the status of rules, the relationship between grammar and the lexicon, and the relationship between innate structure and acquired knowledge. Fascinating for anyone interested in the intricacies of how language is acquired and how the brain sorts sounds into communication.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781589010475
Publisher:	Georgetown University Press
Publication date:	10/22/2004
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	272
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.10(h) x 0.70(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Ewa Dabrowska is a senior lecturer in English Language and Linguistics at the University of Sheffield.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1: Introduction

Part I: The Basic Specifications

Chapter 2: Language Processing: Speed and Flexibility1. The Complexity of the Task2. Speed3. Processing Shortcuts 4. Implications for Linguistic Theory

Chapter 3: Language Acquisition: Robustness1. Individual Differences2. The Role of Input3. Language Development in Blind Children4. The Robustness of Language

Chapter 4: Language in the Brain 1. The Localisation Issue2. Preservation of Grammatical Knowledge in Brosca's Aphasia3. The Co-occurrence of Lexical and Grammatical Deficits4. The Resilience of Language

Chapter 5: Language and Other Cognitive Processes1. A Genetically Specified Language Module? 2. Human Adaptations to Language3. Language Adaptations to Humans4. Universal Grammar Again5. Conclusion

Part II: The Building Blocks of Language

Chapter 7: Words1. The Semantics of Locative Terms2. The Acquisition of Locative Terms3. Innate Structure, yes—but of What Kind? 4. Lexical Learning in a Constrained Connectionist Network5. Conclusion

Chapter 8: On Rules and Regularity1. Words and Rules2. The Connectionist Bombshell3. The Linguists Strike Back4. The Dual-Mechanism Model5. The German Plural: A Minority Default? 6. An Inflectional System Without a Default: The Polish Genitive7. The Final Test Case: The Polish Dative8. Interim Conclusions9. Challenges for Connectionism

Chapter 9: Syntactic Constructions1. Ties between Lexical and Grammatical Knowledge2. Multi-word Units in Acquisition3. A Case Study: Questions

Chapter 10: The Cognitive Enterprise1. Towards a Psychologically Realistic Grammar 2. A Crash Course in Cognitive Grammar3. Language Production in a CG Framework4. A Cognitive View of Language Acquisition5. More on Regularity6. Future Directions

BibliographyIndex

What People are Saying About This

Adele E. Goldberg

This well-informed, comprehensive book takes a fresh look at long-standing issues within psycholinguistics. And it is so well-written that it often reads more like a novel than a textbook.

From the Publisher

"This well-informed, comprehensive book takes a fresh look at long-standing issues within psycholinguistics. And it is so well-written that it often reads more like a novel than a textbook."—Adele E. Goldberg, professor of linguistics, Princeton University

"A wonderful book and real rarity: a scholarly treatise on language that is also accessible for even beginning-level students. I know of no book that does a better job of exploring and even celebrating the many unique aspects of language, while at the same time highlighting its many deep connections with other domains of human cognition."—Michael Tomasello, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology

Michael Tomasello

A wonderful book and real rarity: a scholarly treatise on language that is also accessible for even beginning-level students. I know of no book that does a better job of exploring and even celebrating the many unique aspects of language, while at the same time highlighting its many deep connections with other domains of human cognition.

Editorial Reviews

A wonderful book and real rarity: a scholarly treatise on language that is also accessible for even beginning-level students. I know of no book that does a better job of exploring and even celebrating the many unique aspects of language, while at the same time highlighting its many deep connections with other domains of human cognition.

Michael Tomasello

A wonderful book and real rarity: a scholarly treatise on language that is also accessible for even beginning level students. I know of no book that does a better job of exploring and even celebrating the many unique aspects of language, while at the same time highlighting its many deep connections with other domains of the human cognition.

Professor Michael Tomasello

This work is distinguished by meticulous presentation and brilliant thinking.

From the Publisher

This well-informed, comprehensive book takes a fresh look at long-standing issues within psycholinguistics. And it is so well-written that it often reads more like a novel than a textbook.

Adele E. Goldberg

This work is distinguished by meticulous presentation and brilliant thinking.

Germanistik (Redaktion)