Author: Joel Wallman Publisher: Cambridge University Press ISBN: 9780521406666 Category : Language Arts & Disciplines Languages : en Pages : 208
Book Description
Language is regarded, at least in most intellectual traditions, as the quintessential human attribute, at once evidence and source of most that is considered transcendent in us, distinguishing ours from the merely mechanical nature of the beast. Even if language did not have the sacrosanct status it does in our conception of human nature, however, the question of its presence in other species would still promote argument, for we lack any universally accepted, defining features of language, ones that would allow us to identify it unequivocally ours from other species and contention over the crucial attributes of language are responsible for the stridency of the debate over whether nonhuman animals can learn language. Aping Language is a critical assessment of each of the recent experiments designed to impact a language, either natural or invented, to an ape. The performance of the animals in these experiments is compared with the course of semantic and syntactic development in children, both speaking and signing. The book goes on to examine what is known about the neurological, cognitive, and specifically linguistic attributes of our species that subserve language, and it discusses how they might have come into existence. Finally, the communication of nonhuman primates in nature is assayed to consider whether or not it was reasonable to assume, as the experimenters in these projects did, that apes possess an ability to acquire language.
Author: Raymond Tallis Publisher: Routledge ISBN: 1317234634 Category : Philosophy Languages : en Pages : 407
Book Description
Neuroscience has made astounding progress in the understanding of the brain. What should we make of its claims to go beyond the brain and explain consciousness, behaviour and culture? Where should we draw the line? In this brilliant critique Raymond Tallis dismantles "Neuromania", arising out of the idea that we are reducible to our brains and "Darwinitis" according to which, since the brain is an evolved organ, we are entirely explicable within an evolutionary framework. With precision and acuity he argues that the belief that human beings can be understood in biological terms is a serious obstacle to clear thinking about what we are and what we might become. Neuromania and Darwinitis deny human uniqueness, minimise the differences between us and our nearest animal kin and offer a grotesquely simplified account of humanity. We are, argues Tallis, infinitely more interesting and complex than we appear in the mirror of biology. Combative, fearless and thought-provoking, Aping Mankind is an important book and one that scientists, cultural commentators and policy-makers cannot ignore. This Routledge Classics edition includes a new preface by the Author.
Author: R.L. Trask Publisher: Routledge ISBN: 1134635982 Category : Language Arts & Disciplines Languages : en Pages : 268
Book Description
What makes human language unique? Do women speak differently from men? Just what is the meaning of "meaning"? Language: The Basics provides a concise introduction to the study of language. Written in an engaging and entertaining style, it encourages the reader to think about the way language works. It features: * chapters on 'Language in Use', 'Attitudes to Language', 'Children and Language' and 'Language, Mind and Brain' * a section on sign language * a glossary of key terms * handy annotated guides to further reading. Providing an accessible overview of a fascinating subject, this is an essential book for all students and anyone who's ever been accused of splitting an infinitive.
Author: Ian Glynn Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA ISBN: 9780195158038 Category : Medical Languages : en Pages : 468
Book Description
Drawing on a dazzlingly wide array of disciplines--physiology, neurology, psychology, anthropology, linguistics, and philosophy--the renowned Cambridge scientist Ian Glynn presents a tour-de-force exploration of the workings of the human mind. 48 line drawings.
Author: John Earl Joseph Publisher: Psychology Press ISBN: 9780415063968 Category : Language Arts & Disciplines Languages : en Pages : 296
Book Description
Following Landmarks in Linguistic Thought I, this second volume introduces the key thinkers in linguistics in the 20th century, including Chomsky, Derrida, Orwell, Sapir, Whorf and Wittgenstein.
Author: Herbert S. Terrace Publisher: Columbia University Press ISBN: 0231550014 Category : Language Arts & Disciplines Languages : en Pages : 250
Book Description
In the 1970s, the behavioral psychologist Herbert S. Terrace led a remarkable experiment to see if a chimpanzee could be taught to use language. A young ape, named “Nim Chimpsky” in a nod to the linguist whose theories Terrace challenged, was raised by a family in New York and instructed in American Sign Language. Initially, Terrace thought that Nim could create sentences but later discovered that Nim’s teachers inadvertently cued his signing. Terrace concluded that Project Nim failed—not because Nim couldn’t create sentences but because he couldn’t even learn words. Language is a uniquely human quality, and attempting to find it in animals is wishful thinking at best. The failure of Project Nim meant we were no closer to understanding where language comes from. In this book, Terrace revisits Project Nim to offer a novel view of the origins of human language. In contrast to both Noam Chomsky and his critics, Terrace contends that words, as much as grammar, are the cornerstones of language. Retracing human evolution and developmental psychology, he shows that nonverbal interaction is the foundation of infant language acquisition, leading up to a child’s first words. By placing words and conversation before grammar, we can, for the first time, account for the evolutionary basis of language. Terrace argues that this theory explains Nim’s inability to acquire words and, more broadly, the differences between human and animal communication. Why Chimpanzees Can’t Learn Language and Only Humans Can is a masterful statement of the nature of language and what it means to be human.
Author: Vivian Cook Publisher: Melville House ISBN: 1935554808 Category : Reference Languages : en Pages : 256
Book Description
Delve into the hidden nature of words: An irresistible mix of information, curiosity, and fun Linguist Vivian Cook takes us on a brilliant series of excursions into the history and meaning of words: How do we learn words as a child? How are words born, and why do they die? Why do some never get spoken, and others never written? Each chapter is charmingly illustrated—and accompanied by a rich assortment of games, lists, puzzles, and quotes. From polite words to crass words, from p-c words to Shakespeare’s words, from food and wine words to jazz and drug words—the book is an exciting exploration into the abundance and variety of words.
Author: Vivian Cook Publisher: Profile Books ISBN: 1847653197 Category : Language Arts & Disciplines Languages : en Pages : 336
Book Description
Cross words, crass words, kind words, bad words, first words, rude words, new words, weazel words, teen words, rap words, power words, colour words, Indian words, Brit words, Blairwords, war words, ad words, p-c words, borrowed words, Shakespeare's amazing words, false words, fine words, wine words, American words, name words, last words, even lost for words - this book has them all. Vivian Cook takes us on a series of excursions down the curious byways of word history and meaning, mingling the fare with games, lists, tests, and quotes. Discover the theojollylogical joys of infixation. Find out if you're a charva, what it means to be nithered, and how to hoy. Delve into the hidden nature of words. Consider how they're born, why they change, and how they die. Learn about the words that are never spoken and others that don't get written. Here's a book overflowing with words and about every kind and variety of word. It offers an irresistible cornucopia of information and entertainment.
Author: David F. Armstrong Publisher: Oxford University Press ISBN: 0198036914 Category : Psychology Languages : en Pages : 162
Book Description
In The Gestural Origin of Language, Sherman Wilcox and David Armstrong use evidence from and about sign languages to explore the origins of language as we know it today. According to their model, it is sign, not spoken languages, that is the original mode of human communication. The authors demonstrate that modern language is derived from practical actions and gestures that were increasingly recognized as having the potential to represent, and hence to communicate. In other words, the fundamental ability that allows us to use language is our ability to use pictures or icons, rather than linguistic symbols. Evidence from the human fossil record supports the authors' claim by showing that we were anatomically able to produce gestures and signs before we were able to speak fluently. Although speech evolved later as a secondary linguistic communication device that eventually replaced sign language as the primary mode of communication, speech has never entirely replaced signs and gestures. As the first comprehensive attempt to trace the origin of grammar to gesture, this volume will be an invaluable resource for students and professionals in psychology, linguistics, and philosophy.
Author: Joel Wallman
Author: Raymond Tallis
Author: R.L. Trask
Author: Ian Glynn
Author: John Earl Joseph
Author: Herbert S. Terrace
Author: Vivian Cook
Author: Vivian Cook
Author: David F. Armstrong
Author: Thomas S. Stroik