Human Language
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Author |
: Peter Hagoort |
Publisher |
: MIT Press |
Total Pages |
: 753 |
Release |
: 2019-10-29 |
ISBN-10 |
: 9780262042635 |
ISBN-13 |
: 0262042630 |
Rating |
: 4/5 (35 Downloads) |
Synopsis Human Language by : Peter Hagoort
A unique overview of the human language faculty at all levels of organization. Language is not only one of the most complex cognitive functions that we command, it is also the aspect of the mind that makes us uniquely human. Research suggests that the human brain exhibits a language readiness not found in the brains of other species. This volume brings together contributions from a range of fields to examine humans' language capacity from multiple perspectives, analyzing it at genetic, neurobiological, psychological, and linguistic levels. In recent decades, advances in computational modeling, neuroimaging, and genetic sequencing have made possible new approaches to the study of language, and the contributors draw on these developments. The book examines cognitive architectures, investigating the functional organization of the major language skills; learning and development trajectories, summarizing the current understanding of the steps and neurocognitive mechanisms in language processing; evolutionary and other preconditions for communication by means of natural language; computational tools for modeling language; cognitive neuroscientific methods that allow observations of the human brain in action, including fMRI, EEG/MEG, and others; the neural infrastructure of language capacity; the genome's role in building and maintaining the language-ready brain; and insights from studying such language-relevant behaviors in nonhuman animals as birdsong and primate vocalization. Section editors Christian F. Beckmann, Carel ten Cate, Simon E. Fisher, Peter Hagoort, Evan Kidd, Stephen C. Levinson, James M. McQueen, Antje S. Meyer, David Poeppel, Caroline F. Rowland, Constance Scharff, Ivan Toni, Willem Zuidema
Author |
: Charles Taylor |
Publisher |
: Harvard University Press |
Total Pages |
: 353 |
Release |
: 2016-03-14 |
ISBN-10 |
: 9780674970274 |
ISBN-13 |
: 0674970276 |
Rating |
: 4/5 (74 Downloads) |
Synopsis The Language Animal by : Charles Taylor
“We have been given a powerful and often uplifting vision of what it is to be truly human.” —John Cottingham, The Tablet In seminal works ranging from Sources of the Self to A Secular Age, Charles Taylor has shown how we create possible ways of being, both as individuals and as a society. In his new book setting forth decades of thought, he demonstrates that language is at the center of this generative process. For centuries, philosophers have been divided on the nature of language. Those in the rational empiricist tradition—Hobbes, Locke, Condillac, and their heirs—assert that language is a tool that human beings developed to encode and communicate information. In The Language Animal, Taylor explains that this view neglects the crucial role language plays in shaping the very thought it purports to express. Language does not merely describe; it constitutes meaning and fundamentally shapes human experience. The human linguistic capacity is not something we innately possess. We first learn language from others, and, inducted into the shared practice of speech, our individual selves emerge out of the conversation. Taylor expands the thinking of the German Romantics Hamann, Herder, and Humboldt into a theory of linguistic holism. Language is intellectual, but it is also enacted in artistic portrayals, gestures, tones of voice, metaphors, and the shifts of emphasis and attitude that accompany speech. Human language recognizes no boundary between mind and body. In illuminating the full capacity of “the language animal,” Taylor sheds light on the very question of what it is to be a human being.
Author |
: Angela D. Friederici |
Publisher |
: MIT Press |
Total Pages |
: 300 |
Release |
: 2017-11-16 |
ISBN-10 |
: 9780262036924 |
ISBN-13 |
: 0262036924 |
Rating |
: 4/5 (24 Downloads) |
Synopsis Language in Our Brain by : Angela D. Friederici
A comprehensive account of the neurobiological basis of language, arguing that species-specific brain differences may be at the root of the human capacity for language. Language makes us human. It is an intrinsic part of us, although we seldom think about it. Language is also an extremely complex entity with subcomponents responsible for its phonological, syntactic, and semantic aspects. In this landmark work, Angela Friederici offers a comprehensive account of these subcomponents and how they are integrated. Tracing the neurobiological basis of language across brain regions in humans and other primate species, she argues that species-specific brain differences may be at the root of the human capacity for language. Friederici shows which brain regions support the different language processes and, more important, how these brain regions are connected structurally and functionally to make language processes that take place in milliseconds possible. She finds that one particular brain structure (a white matter dorsal tract), connecting syntax-relevant brain regions, is present only in the mature human brain and only weakly present in other primate brains. Is this the “missing link” that explains humans' capacity for language? Friederici describes the basic language functions and their brain basis; the language networks connecting different language-related brain regions; the brain basis of language acquisition during early childhood and when learning a second language, proposing a neurocognitive model of the ontogeny of language; and the evolution of language and underlying neural constraints. She finds that it is the information exchange between the relevant brain regions, supported by the white matter tract, that is the crucial factor in both language development and evolution.
Author |
: Robert C. Berwick |
Publisher |
: MIT Press |
Total Pages |
: 229 |
Release |
: 2017-05-12 |
ISBN-10 |
: 9780262533492 |
ISBN-13 |
: 0262533499 |
Rating |
: 4/5 (92 Downloads) |
Synopsis Why Only Us by : Robert C. Berwick
Berwick and Chomsky draw on recent developments in linguistic theory to offer an evolutionary account of language and humans' remarkable, species-specific ability to acquire it. “A loosely connected collection of four essays that will fascinate anyone interested in the extraordinary phenomenon of language.” —New York Review of Books We are born crying, but those cries signal the first stirring of language. Within a year or so, infants master the sound system of their language; a few years after that, they are engaging in conversations. This remarkable, species-specific ability to acquire any human language—“the language faculty”—raises important biological questions about language, including how it has evolved. This book by two distinguished scholars—a computer scientist and a linguist—addresses the enduring question of the evolution of language. Robert Berwick and Noam Chomsky explain that until recently the evolutionary question could not be properly posed, because we did not have a clear idea of how to define “language” and therefore what it was that had evolved. But since the Minimalist Program, developed by Chomsky and others, we know the key ingredients of language and can put together an account of the evolution of human language and what distinguishes us from all other animals. Berwick and Chomsky discuss the biolinguistic perspective on language, which views language as a particular object of the biological world; the computational efficiency of language as a system of thought and understanding; the tension between Darwin's idea of gradual change and our contemporary understanding about evolutionary change and language; and evidence from nonhuman animals, in particular vocal learning in songbirds.
Author |
: Wolfgang Wildgen |
Publisher |
: John Benjamins Publishing |
Total Pages |
: 264 |
Release |
: 2004-01-01 |
ISBN-10 |
: 9027251932 |
ISBN-13 |
: 9789027251930 |
Rating |
: 4/5 (32 Downloads) |
Synopsis The Evolution of Human Language by : Wolfgang Wildgen
Wolfgang Wildgen presents three perspectives on the evolution of language as a key element in the evolution of mankind in terms of the development of human symbol use. (1) He approaches this question by constructing possible scenarios in which mechanisms necessary for symbolic behavior could have developed, on the basis of the state of the art in evolutionary anthropology and genetics. (2) Non-linguistic symbolic behavior such as cave art is investigated as an important clue to the developmental background to the origin of language. Creativity and innovation and a population's ability to integrate individual experiments are considered with regard to historical examples of symbolic creativity in the visual arts and natural sciences. (3) Probable linguistic 'fossils' of such linguistic innovations are examined. The results of this study allow for new proposals for a 'protolanguage' and for a theory of language within a broader philosophical and semiotic framework, and raises interesting questions as to human consciousness, universal grammar, and linguistic methodology. (Series B)
Author |
: Harry van der Hulst |
Publisher |
: Walter de Gruyter |
Total Pages |
: 473 |
Release |
: 2010 |
ISBN-10 |
: 9783110219241 |
ISBN-13 |
: 3110219247 |
Rating |
: 4/5 (41 Downloads) |
Synopsis Recursion and Human Language by : Harry van der Hulst
In this volume, the issue of recursion is tackled from a variety of angles. Some articles cover formal issues regarding the proper characterization or definition of recursion, while others focus on empirical issues by examining the kinds of structur
Author |
: Daniel L. Everett |
Publisher |
: Liveright Publishing |
Total Pages |
: 309 |
Release |
: 2017-11-07 |
ISBN-10 |
: 9780871404770 |
ISBN-13 |
: 087140477X |
Rating |
: 4/5 (70 Downloads) |
Synopsis How Language Began: The Story of Humanity's Greatest Invention by : Daniel L. Everett
A Buzzfeed Gift Guide Selection “Few books on the biological and cultural origin of humanity can be ranked as classics. I believe [this] will be one of them.” — Edward O. Wilson At the time of its publication, How Language Began received high acclaim for capturing the fascinating history of mankind’s most incredible creation. Deemed a “bombshell” linguist and “instant folk hero” by Tom Wolfe (Harper’s), Daniel L. Everett posits that the near- 7,000 languages that exist today are not only the product of one million years of evolution but also have allowed us to become Earth’s apex predator. Tracing 60,000 generations, Everett debunks long- held theories across a spectrum of disciplines to affi rm the idea that we are not born with an instinct for language. Woven with anecdotes of his nearly forty years of fi eldwork amongst Amazonian hunter- gatherers, this is a “completely enthralling” (Spectator) exploration of our humanity and a landmark study of what makes us human. “[An] ambitious text. . . . Everett’s amiable tone, and especially his captivating anecdotes . . . , will help the neophyte along.”— New York Times Book Review
Author |
: Gisela Håkansson |
Publisher |
: John Benjamins Publishing |
Total Pages |
: 256 |
Release |
: 2013-06-27 |
ISBN-10 |
: 9789027272010 |
ISBN-13 |
: 9027272018 |
Rating |
: 4/5 (10 Downloads) |
Synopsis Communication in Humans and Other Animals by : Gisela Håkansson
Communication is a basic behaviour, found across animal species. Human language is often thought of as a unique system, which separates humans from other animals. This textbook serves as a guide to different types of communication, and suggests that each is unique in its own way: human verbal and nonverbal communication, communication in nonhuman primates, in dogs and in birds. Research questions and findings from different perspectives are summarized and integrated to show students similarities and differences in the rich diversity of communicative behaviours. A core topic is how young individuals proceed from not being able to communicate to reaching a state of competent communicators, and the role of adults in this developmental process. Evolutionary aspects are also taken into consideration, and ideas about the evolution of human language are examined. The cross-disciplinary nature of the book makes it useful for courses in linguistics, biology, sociology and psychology, but it is also valuable reading for anyone interested in understanding communicative behaviour.
Author |
: Jonathan Boyarin |
Publisher |
: |
Total Pages |
: 0 |
Release |
: 2008 |
ISBN-10 |
: 0979405734 |
ISBN-13 |
: 9780979405730 |
Rating |
: 4/5 (34 Downloads) |
Synopsis Time and Human Language Now by : Jonathan Boyarin
What can you say after you say that the world--or at least human life on it--looks like it's nearing its end? How about starting with wonder at the possibility that dialogue and subjectivity--the bases of human language--are possible now? In Time and Human Language Now two lifelong friends share, in the form of a long-distance e-mail correspondence, a conversation about the relation between cosmos and consciousness, and about the possibility of being responsibly open toward the future without either despair or unreasoning hope. The urgency that underlies this dialogue is the conviction that there can only be reason for hope if the members of homo sapiens can learn--soon--how vital and astonishing is the phenomenon of shared human presence through language.
Author |
: Wilhelm von Humboldt |
Publisher |
: Cambridge University Press |
Total Pages |
: 344 |
Release |
: 1999-12-09 |
ISBN-10 |
: 0521667720 |
ISBN-13 |
: 9780521667722 |
Rating |
: 4/5 (20 Downloads) |
Synopsis Humboldt: 'On Language' by : Wilhelm von Humboldt
Wilhelm von Humboldt's classic study of human language was first published in 1836, as a general introduction to his three-volume treatise on the Kawi language of Java. It is the final statement of his lifelong study of the nature of language, exploring its universal structures and its relation to mind and culture. Empirically wide-ranging - Humboldt goes far beyond the Indo-European family of languages - it remains one of the most interesting and important attempts to draw philosophical conclusions from comparative linguistics. This 1999 volume presents a translation by Peter Heath, together with an introduction by Michael Losonsky that places Humboldt's work in its historical context and discusses its relevance to contemporary work in philosophy, linguistics, cognitive science, and psychology.