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Lingua Ex Machina
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Book Synopsis Lingua Ex Machina by : William H. Calvin
Download or read book Lingua Ex Machina written by William H. Calvin and published by MIT Press. This book was released on 2000 with total page 318 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A neuroscientist and a linguist show how evolution could have given rise to structured language. A machine for language? Certainly, say the neurophysiologists, busy studying the language specializations of the human brain and trying to identify their evolutionary antecedents. Linguists such as Noam Chomsky talk about machinelike "modules" in the brain for syntax, arguing that language is more an instinct (a complex behavior triggered by simple environmental stimuli) than an acquired skill like riding a bicycle. But structured language presents the same evolutionary problems as feathered forelimbs for flight: you need a lot of specializations to fly even a little bit. How do you get them, if evolution has no foresight and the intermediate stages do not have intermediate payoffs? Some say that the Darwinian scheme for gradual species self-improvement cannot explain our most valued human capability, the one that sets us so far above the apes, language itself. William Calvin and Derek Bickerton suggest that other evolutionary developments, not directly related to language, allowed language to evolve in a way that eventually promoted a Chomskian syntax. They compare these intermediate behaviors to the curb-cuts originally intended for wheelchair users. Their usefulness was soon discovered by users of strollers, shopping carts, rollerblades, and so on. The authors argue that reciprocal altruism and ballistic movement planning were "curb-cuts" that indirectly promoted the formation of structured language. Written in the form of a dialogue set in Bellagio, Italy, Lingua ex Machina presents an engaging challenge to those who view the human capacity for language as a winner-take-all war between Chomsky and Darwin.
Download or read book Lingua Ex Machina written by Ido Ramati and published by University of Pennsylvania Press. This book was released on 2025-03-04 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Book Synopsis The English Language and Linguistics Companion by : Keith Allan
Download or read book The English Language and Linguistics Companion written by Keith Allan and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2017-09-16 with total page 384 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Interested in discovering how language works? Daunted by the prospect of studying linguistics at university? The English Language and Linguistics Companion is a tool-kit for the novice linguist. Integrating study skills with substantive coverage, it offers an innovative approach to the study of English language and linguistics, helping students see how their chosen discipline 'fits together'. A one-stop resource, this practical and highly accessible guide: - Provides a comprehensive overview of contemporary approaches to the study of language and outlines the contribution of significant scholars to the development of the field. - Introduces the core topics and concepts of linguistics and the study of language and summarizes key issues in applied linguistics. - Defines and illustrates the key terms and concepts in the discipline of linguistics. - Offers practical advice on the skills required when studying linguistics and suggests a range of possible career pathways. - Illustrates approaches to linguistic research and recommends resources for linguistic inquiry and the study of language. Packed full of information and guidance, this is an essential resource for prospective linguistics students and anyone with an interest in the study of language.
Book Synopsis Exiting Nirvana by : Clara Claiborne Park
Download or read book Exiting Nirvana written by Clara Claiborne Park and published by Hachette+ORM. This book was released on 2009-06-27 with total page 183 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Exiting Nirvana details Clara Claiborne Park's continuing efforts to have her daughter Jessy 'exit Nirvana,' develop as an artist, and connect with our world.
Book Synopsis Politics and the English Language by : George Orwell
Download or read book Politics and the English Language written by George Orwell and published by Renard Press Ltd. This book was released on 2021-01-01 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: George Orwell set out ‘to make political writing into an art’, and to a wide extent this aim shaped the future of English literature – his descriptions of authoritarian regimes helped to form a new vocabulary that is fundamental to understanding totalitarianism. While 1984 and Animal Farm are amongst the most popular classic novels in the English language, this new series of Orwell’s essays seeks to bring a wider selection of his writing on politics and literature to a new readership. In Politics and the English Language, the second in the Orwell’s Essays series, Orwell takes aim at the language used in politics, which, he says, ‘is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind’. In an age where the language used in politics is constantly under the microscope, Orwell’s Politics and the English Language is just as relevant today, and gives the reader a vital understanding of the tactics at play. 'A writer who can – and must – be rediscovered with every age.' — Irish Times
Book Synopsis Phenomenology of the Human Person by : Robert Sokolowski
Download or read book Phenomenology of the Human Person written by Robert Sokolowski and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2008-05-12 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this book, Robert Sokolowski argues that being a person means to be involved with truth. He shows that human reason is established by syntactic composition in language, pictures, and actions and that we understand things when they are presented to us through syntax. Sokolowski highlights the role of the spoken word in human reason and examines the bodily and neurological basis for human experience. Drawing on Husserl and Aristotle, as well as Aquinas and Henry James, Sokolowski here employs phenomenology in a highly original way in order to clarify what we are as human agents.
Book Synopsis Hacking Cyberspace by : David J. Gunkel
Download or read book Hacking Cyberspace written by David J. Gunkel and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2018-02-19 with total page 288 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In Hacking Cyberspace David J. Gunkel examines the metaphors applied to new technologies, and how those metaphors inform, shape, and drive the implementation of the technology in question. The author explores the metaphorical tropes that have been employed to describe and evaluate recent advances in computer technology, telecommunications systems, and interactive media. Taking the stance that no speech is value-neutral, Gunkel examines such metaphors as "the information superhighway" and "the electronic frontier" for their political and social content, and he develops a critical investigation that not only traces the metaphors' conceptual history, but explicates their implications and consequences for technological development. Through Hacking Cyberspace, David J. Gunkel develops a sophisticated understanding of new technology that takes into account the effect of technoculture's own discursive techniques and maneuvers on the actual form of technological development.
Book Synopsis The Speciation of Modern Homo Sapiens by : T. J. Crow
Download or read book The Speciation of Modern Homo Sapiens written by T. J. Crow and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2004-01-08 with total page 276 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is the first volume to address directly the question of the speciation of modern Homo sapiens. The subject raises profound questions about the nature of the species, our defining characteristic (it is suggested it is language), and the brain changes and their genetic basis that make us distinct. The British Academy and the Academy of Medical Sciences have brought together experts from palaeontology, archaeology, linguistics, psychology, genetics and evolutionary theory to present evidence and theories at the cutting edge of our understanding of these issues. Palaeontological and genetic work suggests that the transition from a precursor hominid species to modern man took place between 100,000 and 150,000 years ago. Some contributors discuss what is most characteristic of the species, focussing on language and its possible basis in brain lateralization. This work is placed in the context of speciation theory, which has remained a subject of considerable debate since the evolutionary synthesis of Mendelian genetics and Darwinian theory. The timing of specific transitions in hominid evolution is discussed, as also is the question of the neural basis of language. Other contributors address the possible genetic nature of the transition, with reference to changes on the X and Y chromosomes that may account for sex differences in lateralization and verbal ability. These differences are discussed in terms of the theory of sexual selection, and with reference to the mechanisms of speciation. These essays will be vital reading for anyone interested in the nature and origins of the species, and specifically human abilities.
Book Synopsis Language Evolution by : Rudolf Botha
Download or read book Language Evolution written by Rudolf Botha and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2016-03-02 with total page 329 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How can we unravel the evolution of language, given that there is no direct evidence about it? Rudolf Botha addresses this intriguing question in his fascinating new book. Inferences can be drawn about language evolution from a range of other phenomena, serving as windows into this prehistoric process. These include shell-beads, fossil skulls and ancestral brains, modern pidgin and creole languages, homesign systems and emergent sign languages, modern motherese, language use of modern hunter-gatherers, first language acquisition, similarities between language and music, and comparative animal behaviour. The first systematic analysis of the Windows Approach, it will be of interest to students and researchers in many disciplines, including anthropology, archaeology, linguistics, palaeontology and primatology, as well as anyone interested in how language evolved.
Book Synopsis Consciousness and the Cultural Invention of Language by : Filippo-Enrico Cardini
Download or read book Consciousness and the Cultural Invention of Language written by Filippo-Enrico Cardini and published by Taylor & Francis. This book was released on 2022-11-30 with total page 210 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book studies the origins of language. It presents language as the product of a unique non-linguistic cognitive feature (i.e. metacognition) that emerged late in human evolution. Within this framework, the author lays special emphasis on the tight links that exist between language and consciousness, with the conviction that the creation of language was ultimately made possible by the onset of a new type of awareness that enabled the invention of words. The volume studies the parallels between human cultural behaviour and human language, discusses the motivational underpinnings that favoured the emergence of language, and offers a possible evolutionary timeline for the advent of language. It also addresses the question of whether artificial intelligence will ever develop the kind of thinking and language observable in humans. A unique look into the beginnings of human language, this book will be indispensable for students and researchers of language and linguistics, language evolution, cultural studies, cognitive linguistics, psycholinguistics, and cognitive science.
Book Synopsis First and Second Language Acquisition by : Jürgen M. Meisel
Download or read book First and Second Language Acquisition written by Jürgen M. Meisel and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2011-07-07 with total page 321 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Infants and very young children develop almost miraculously the ability of speech, without apparent effort, without even being taught - as opposed to the teenager or the adult struggling without, it seems, ever being able to reach the same level of proficiency as five year olds in their first language. This useful textbook serves as a guide to different types of language acquisition: monolingual and bilingual first language development and child and adult second language acquisition. Unlike other books, it systematically compares first and second language acquisition, drawing on data from several languages. Research questions and findings from various subfields are helpfully summarized to show students how they are related and how they often complement each other. The essential guide to studying first and second language acquisition, it will be used on courses in linguistics, modern languages and developmental psychology.
Download or read book Formulaic Language written by Alison Wray and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2013-12-02 with total page 296 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Presents a framework for examining the existence and function of formulaic language and tests it extensively against language data within a wide variety of language samples. Formulaic language is a fast-growing area of applied linguistic research, and the author is a key figure in this field.
Author :Morten H. Christiansen Professor of Psychology Cornell University Publisher :Oxford University Press, USA ISBN 13 :0199719381 Total Pages :312 pages Book Rating :4.1/5 (997 download)
Book Synopsis Language Universals by : Morten H. Christiansen Professor of Psychology Cornell University
Download or read book Language Universals written by Morten H. Christiansen Professor of Psychology Cornell University and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 2007-04-01 with total page 312 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Languages differ from one another in bewildering and seemingly arbitrary ways. For example, in English, the verb precedes the direct object ('understand the proof'), but in Japanese, the direct object comes first. In some languages, such as Mohawk, it is not even possible to establish a basic word order. Nonetheless, languages do share certain regularities in how they are structured and used. The exact nature and extent of these "language universals" has been the focus of much research and is one of the central explanatory goals in the language sciences. During the past 50 years, there has been tremendous progress, a few major conceptual revolutions, and even the emergence of entirely new fields. The wealth of findings and theories offered by the various language-science disciplines has made it more important than ever to work toward an integrated understanding of the nature of human language universals. This book is the first to examine language universals from a cross-disciplinary perspective. It provides new insights into long standing questions such as: What exactly defines the human capacity for language? Are there universal properties of human languages and, if so, what are they? Can all language universals be explained in the same way, or do some universals require different kinds of explanations from others? Language Universals is unique in starting with the assumption that the best way to approach these and related questions is through a dialogue between a wide range of disciplines, including linguistics, cognitive neuroscience, philosophy, computer science and biology.
Book Synopsis Life and Language Beyond Earth by : Raymond Hickey
Download or read book Life and Language Beyond Earth written by Raymond Hickey and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2023-09-21 with total page 697 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Are we alone in the universe? If other lifeforms exist, how might their languages have evolved? Could we ever understand them, even learn their languages? This highly original, thought-provoking book explores how human life evolved on our own planet in order to analyse the likelihood of life and language beyond Earth.
Book Synopsis Language Origins by : Maggie Tallerman
Download or read book Language Origins written by Maggie Tallerman and published by OUP Oxford. This book was released on 2005-05-27 with total page 448 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book addresses central questions in the evolution of language: where it came from; how it relates to primate communication; how and why it evolved; how it came to be culturally transmitted; and how languages diversified. The chapters are written from the perspective of the latest work in linguistics, neuroscience, psychology, and computer science, and reflect the idea that various cognitive, physical, neurological, social, and cultural prerequisites led to the development of full human language. Some of these evolutionary changes were preadaptations for language, while others were adaptive changes allowing the development of particular linguistic characteristics. The authors consider a broad spectrum of ideas about the conditions that led to the evolution of protolanguage and full language. Some examine changes that occurred in the course of evolution to Homo sapiens; others consider how languages themselves have adapted by evolving to be learnable. Some chapters look at the workings of the brain, and others deploy sophisticated computer simulations that model such aspects as the emergence of speech sounds and the development of grammar. All make use of the latest methods and theories to probe into the origins and subsequent development of the only species that has language. The book will interest a wide range of linguists, cognitive scientists, biologists, psychologists, neuroscientists, and experts in artificial intelligence, as well as all those fascinated by issues, puzzles, and problems raised by the evolution of language.
Book Synopsis Comparative Perspectives on Language Acquisition by : Marzena Watorek
Download or read book Comparative Perspectives on Language Acquisition written by Marzena Watorek and published by Multilingual Matters. This book was released on 2012 with total page 625 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume aims to provide a broad view of second language acquisition, from initial to final stages. It does this within a comparative perspective that addresses results concerning adult and child learners across a variety of source and target languages, in order to assess the relative weight of cognitive and typological determinants during language learning.
Book Synopsis The Evolution of Language by : Andrew D. M. Smith
Download or read book The Evolution of Language written by Andrew D. M. Smith and published by World Scientific. This book was released on 2008 with total page 531 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This proceedings volume contains the latest results from the field of particle physics. The contributions cover the current status of all the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) experiments, the implications of the LHC for cosmology, and the search for dark matter and nuclear astrophysics. It also includes work on the current status of the future International Linear Collider (ILC).
