Full Description
Half a century ago, Noam Chomsky posited that humans have specific innate mental abilities to learn and use language, distinct from other animals. This book, a follow-up to the author's previous textbook, A Mind for Language, continues to critically examine the development of this central aspect of linguistics: the innateness debate. It expands upon key themes in the debate - discussing arguments that come from other disciplines, such as psychology, anthropology, sociology, criminology, computer science, formal languages theory, neuroscience, genetics, animal communication, and evolutionary biology. The innateness claim also leads us to ask how human language evolved as a characteristic trait of Homo Sapiens. Written in an accessible way, assuming no prior knowledge of linguistics, the book guides the reader through technical concepts, and employs concrete examples throughout. It is accompanied by a range of online resources, including further material, a glossary, discussion points, questions for reflection, and project suggestions.
Contents
Part I. Introduction: 1. What this book is about; 2. The organization of the mental grammar; 3. The nature-nurture debate across disciplines; Part II. Third Factors and Formal Language Theory: 4. Third factors; 5. Formal languages theory and the mental grammar; Part III. Brains and Genes: 6. Language and the brain; 7. Language and the genome; Part IV. Animal Communication: 8. Communication in the rest of the animal kingdom; 9. The animal mind and human language; Part V. The Evolution of Mind and Language: 10. The evolution of mind and language: basic issues; Part VI. Winding Up: 11. Evaluating the arguments: a forum discussion.
