The language instinct : the new science of language and mind / Steven Pinker.
By: Pinker, Steven [author]
.
Material type: 
BookPublisher: London : Penguin, 1995Copyright date: ©1994Description: xii, 548 pages ; 18 cm.Content type: text Media type: unmediated Carrier type: volumeISBN: 0140291237 (paperback); 9780140291230 (paperback).Subject(s): Language and languages -- Philosophy | Biolinguistics | Instinct (Philosophy)DDC classification: 401 | Item type | Current library | Call number | Status | Barcode | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| General lending | MTU Crawford College of Art and Design Library Lending | 401 (Browse shelf(Opens below)) | Available | 00238181 |
Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:
Simply by making noises with our mouths, we can reliably cause precise new combinations of ideas to arise in each other's minds. The ability comes so naturally that we are apt to forget what a miracle it is. Pursuing the ideas of Darwin and Chomsky, Steven Pinker offers a look at why we use language and where this ability comes from. Rather than being an acquired cultural artefact, it is vigorously argued that language is a biological adaptation to communicate information and as such is a system of great richness and beauty. Using examples of the way language is used in daily life from the mouths of children to the pontifications of politicians, Pinker explores this system and our instinct to use it.
Includes bibliographical references (pages: [497]-526) and index.
1. An instinct to acquire an art -- 2. Chatterboxes -- 3. Mentalese -- 4. How language works -- 5. Words, words, words -- 6. The sounds of silence -- 7. Talking heads -- 8. The tower of Babel -- 9. Baby born talking - Describes heaven -- 10. Language organs and grammar genes -- 11. The big bang -- 12. The language mavens -- 13. Mind design.
Author notes provided by Syndetics
Steven Pinker is an authority on language and the mind. He is Peter de Florez professor of psychology in the department of brain and cognitive sciences at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts.