Words And Rules: The Ingredients Of Language

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Book Title: Words And Rules: The Ingredients Of Language (Science Masters Series)
Author: Steven Pinker
Publisher: Basic Books; 1 edition (October 28, 1999)
Hardcover: 368 pages
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0465072690
ISBN-13: 978-0465072699

Book Description
Who other than MIT scientist Steven Pinker could explore a single linguistic phenomenon, the use of irregular verbs, from the vantage points of psychology, biology, history, philosophy, linguistics, and child development?

In Words and Rules, Pinker answers questions about the miraculous human ability called language and does it in the gripping, witty style of his other bestsellers. As the stories unfold, the reader is immersed in the evolution of the English language over the centuries, the theories of Noam Chomsky and his critics, the simulation of neural networks on computers, the illuminating errors of children as they begin to speak, the tragic loss of language from neurological disease, and more illustrations using humorous wordplay than anyone would have thought possible.

Pinker makes sense of all these phenomena with the help of a single powerful idea: that the essence of language is a mental dictionary of memorized words and a mental grammar of creative rules. Pinker is well known for his skills of explaining the art and science of language. His bestselling book How the Mind Works was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award, and was the #1 bestselling book for amazon.com in 1997. His other bestseller The Language Instinct was named one of the Ten Best Books of 1994 by The New York Times Book Review and nominated for the William James Book Award by the American Psychological Association.

Book Review
Over all, Pinker is quite balanced in his presentation…. Words and Rules is a gem. –The New York Times Book Review, Mark Aronoff

Words and Rules is an excellent introduction to and overview of current thinking about language, and will greatly reward the careful reader with new ways of thinking about how we think, talk, and write. –Rob Lightner

About the Author
Steven Pinker is Professor in the department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences at MIT. He lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

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