On Nature and Language

On Nature and Language PDF Author: Noam Chomsky
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9780521016247
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 220

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Book Description
In this 2002 book, Noam Chomsky develops his thinking on the relation between language, mind and brain.

On Nature and Language

On Nature and Language PDF Author: Noam Chomsky
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9780521016247
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 220

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Book Description
In this 2002 book, Noam Chomsky develops his thinking on the relation between language, mind and brain.

Gesture and the Nature of Language

Gesture and the Nature of Language PDF Author: David F. Armstrong
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9780521467728
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 276

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Book Description
This book proposes a radical alternative to dominant views of the evolution of language, in particular the origins of syntax. The authors draw on evidence from areas such as primatology, anthropology, and linguistics to present a groundbreaking account of the notion that language emerged through visible bodily action. Written in a clear and accessible style, Gesture and the Nature of Language will be indispensable reading for all those interested in the origins of language.

The Oscillatory Nature of Language

The Oscillatory Nature of Language PDF Author: Elliot Murphy
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1108836313
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 337

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Book Description
Develops a theory of how language is processed in the brain and provides a state-of-the-art review of current neuroscientific debates.

The Language of Nature

The Language of Nature PDF Author: Geoffrey Gorham
Publisher: U of Minnesota Press
ISBN: 1452951853
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 361

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Book Description
Galileo’s dictum that the book of nature “is written in the language of mathematics” is emblematic of the accepted view that the scientific revolution hinged on the conceptual and methodological integration of mathematics and natural philosophy. Although the mathematization of nature is a distinctive and crucial feature of the emergence of modern science in the seventeenth century, this volume shows that it was a far more complex, contested, and context-dependent phenomenon than the received historiography has indicated, and that philosophical controversies about the implications of mathematization cannot be understood in isolation from broader social developments related to the status and practice of mathematics in various commercial, political, and academic institutions. Contributors: Roger Ariew, U of South Florida; Richard T. W. Arthur, McMaster U; Lesley B. Cormack, U of Alberta; Daniel Garber, Princeton U; Ursula Goldenbaum, Emory U; Dana Jalobeanu, U of Bucharest; Douglas Jesseph, U of South Florida; Carla Rita Palmerino, Radboud U, Nijmegen and Open U of the Netherlands; Eileen Reeves, Princeton U; Christopher Smeenk, Western U; Justin E. H. Smith, U of Paris 7; Kurt Smith, Bloomsburg U of Pennsylvania.

The Nature of Language

The Nature of Language PDF Author: Dieter Hillert
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 1493906097
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 205

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Book Description
The Nature of Language addresses one of the most fundamental questions of mankind: how did language evolve, and what are the neurobiological and cognitive foundations of language processing? These questions are explored from different perspectives to discuss the building blocks of language evolution and how they developed in the way they can be found in modern humans. Primarily, neural mapping methods of cognition presented in this research provide extremely valuable data about the neural circuitries that are involved in language processing. Thus, the book explores and illustrates cortical mapping in typical language patterns, but also cortical mapping in atypical populations that fail to process particular language aspects. A neurobiological stance is used to inquire about how language abilities of our species evolved to communicate for the purposes of conveying information such as ideas, emotions, goals, and humor. The evolutionary language model presented builds on the cognitive abilities of our ancestors, and it allows readers to draw a variety of expansive conclusions from that, including the idea that human language as an interface system provides the basis for consciousness.

Harnessed

Harnessed PDF Author: Mark Changizi
Publisher: BenBella Books, Inc.
ISBN: 1935618830
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 216

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Book Description
The scientific consensus is that our ability to understand human speech has evolved over hundreds of thousands of years. After all, there are whole portions of the brain devoted to human speech. We learn to understand speech before we can even walk, and can seamlessly absorb enormous amounts of information simply by hearing it. Surely we evolved this capability over thousands of generations. Or did we? Portions of the human brain are also devoted to reading. Children learn to read at a very young age and can seamlessly absorb information even more quickly through reading than through hearing. We know that we didn't evolve to read because reading is only a few thousand years old. In Harnessed, cognitive scientist Mark Changizi demonstrates that human speech has been very specifically “designed" to harness the sounds of nature, sounds we've evolved over millions of years to readily understand. Long before humans evolved, mammals have learned to interpret the sounds of nature to understand both threats and opportunities. Our speech—regardless of language—is very clearly based on the sounds of nature. Even more fascinating, Changizi shows that music itself is based on natural sounds. Music—seemingly one of the most human of inventions—is literally built on sounds and patterns of sound that have existed since the beginning of time. From Library Journal: "Many scientists believe that the human brain's capacity for language is innate, that the brain is actually "hard-wired" for this higher-level functionality. But theoretical neurobiologist Changizi (director of human cognition, 2AI Labs; The Vision Revolution) brilliantly challenges this view, claiming that language (and music) are neither innate nor instinctual to the brain but evolved culturally to take advantage of what the most ancient aspect of our brain does best: process the sounds of nature ... it will certainly intrigue evolutionary biologists, linguists, and cultural anthropologists and is strongly recommended for libraries that have Changizi's previous book." From Forbes: “In his latest book, Harnessed, neuroscientist Mark Changizi manages to accomplish the extraordinary: he says something compellingly new about evolution.… Instead of tackling evolution from the usual position and become mired in the usual arguments, he focuses on one aspect of the larger story so central to who we are, it may very well overshadow all others except the origin of life itself: communication."

The Possibility of Language

The Possibility of Language PDF Author: Alan K. Melby
Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing
ISBN: 9027216142
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 301

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Book Description
This book is about the limits of machine translation. It is widely recognized that machine translation systems do much better on domain-specific controlled-language texts (domain texts for short) than on dynamic general-language texts (general texts for short). The authors explore this general domain distinction and come to some uncommon conclusions about the nature of language. Domain language is claimed to be made possible by general language, while general language is claimed to be made possible by the ethical dimensions of relationships. Domain language is unharmed by the constraints of objectivism, while general language is suffocated by those constraints. Along the way to these conclusions, visits are made to Descartes and Saussure, to Chomsky and Lakoff, to Wittgenstein and Levinas. From these conclusions, consequences are drawn for machine translation and translator tools, for linguistic theory and translation theory. The title of the book does not question whether language is possible; it asks, with wonder and awe, why communication through language is possible.

Language Making Nature

Language Making Nature PDF Author: David Lukas
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780983489122
Category : Creative writing
Languages : en
Pages : 242

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Book Description


Constructions at Work

Constructions at Work PDF Author: Adele E. Goldberg
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN: 9780199268511
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 300

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Book Description
Includes selected classic and contemporary papers in four areas, this text introduces each field, providing technical background for the non-specialist and explaining the underlying connections across the disciplines.

The Stuff of Thought

The Stuff of Thought PDF Author: Steven Pinker
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 1101202602
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 522

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Book Description
This New York Times bestseller is an exciting and fearless investigation of language from the author of Rationality, The Better Angels of Our Nature and The Sense of Style and Enlightenment Now. "Curious, inventive, fearless, naughty." --The New York Times Book Review Bestselling author Steven Pinker possesses that rare combination of scientific aptitude and verbal eloquence that enables him to provide lucid explanations of deep and powerful ideas. His previous books - including the Pulitzer Prize finalist The Blank Slate - have catapulted him into the limelight as one of today's most important popular science writers. In The Stuff of Thought, Pinker presents a fascinating look at how our words explain our nature. Considering scientific questions with examples from everyday life, The Stuff of Thought is a brilliantly crafted and highly readable work that will appeal to fans of everything from The Selfish Gene and Blink to Eats, Shoots & Leaves.