Table of Contents

Introduction; 1. Studying the human language faculty; 2. Language as a mental organ; 3. Syntax; 4. Sound patterns to language; 5. Describing linguistic knowledge; 6. Phonetics and the I-linguistics of speech; 7. Morphology; 8. Language change; 9. 'Growing' a language; 10. The organic basis of language.

Promotional Information

This book discusses the biological basis for a person's use of language.

About the Author

STEPHEN R. ANDERSON is Professor of Linguistics and Cognitive Science at Yale University. He is the author of The Organization of Phonology (1974), Phonology in the Twentieth Century (1985), and A-Morphous Morphology (Cambridge, 1992). DAVID W. LIGHTFOOT is Dean of the Graduate School, Georgetown University. He is the author of eight books, most recently The Development of Language (1999).

Reviews

'A superb overview of the logic of language and its basis in the human mind.' Steven Pinker, Professor of Psychology, MIT, and author of The Language Instinct and Words and Rules