I-Language

Description

The book introduces the major branches of theoretical linguistics - phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics - in the context of cognitive science, with reference to fields such as vision, auditory perception, and philosophy of mind.

• Fully revised and updated edition, with additional exercises and expanded content
• An accessible text that shows the reader how to think like a linguist
• Explores how technical linguistics relates to and is informed by work in other fields of cognitive science and philosophy of mind
• Companion website with additional exercises, guidance for instructors, and links to related material
• Shot through with anecdote and humour
• Two-colour printing throughout
• Clearly presented with examples at every step

About the Author(s)

Daniela Isac, Department of Linguistics, Concordia University, and Charles Reiss, Department of Linguistics, Concordia University

Daniela Isac is Professor of Linguistics at Concordia University. She has taught at the University of Bucharest and held research fellowships at the universities of Oxford and Quebec. Her published work includes articles in Revue Roumaine de Linguistique and Linguistic Inquiry.

Charles Reiss is Professor of Linguistics at Concordia University, Montreal, co-editor with Gillian Ramchand of The Oxford Handbook of Linguistic Interfaces (OUP 2007), and co-author with Mark Hale of The Phonological Enterprise (OUP 2008).

Table of Contents

Part I: The Object of Inquiry
1:What is I-Language?
2:I-everything: Triangles, streams, words
3:Approaches to the Study of Language
4:I-/E-/P-Language
Part II: Linguistic Representation and Computation
5:A Syntactic Theory That Won't Work
6:Abstract Representations
7:Some Details of Sentence Structure
8:Binding
9:Ergativity
Part III: Universal Grammar
10:Approaches to UG: Empirical Evidence
11:Approaches to UG: Logic
Part IV: Implications and Conclusions
12:Social Implications
13:Rationalist Explorations
14:Open Questions and Closing Remarks
References
Index

Reviews

Review from previous edition This book is an engaging and pioneering introduction to Biolinguistic theory construction and scientific method. It's one of very few texts I've ever read that clarifies, with formal yet accessible linguistic analyses and argument, the Chomskyan shift in focus away from treating human language as some kind of non-psychological human-external entity to the study of human language as "I-language" - a cognitive system embedded within the mind/brain of each individual. - Professor Samuel Epstein, University of Michigan

Strikingly original and fully student-oriented, this book covers all the bases of modern linguistic theory from a single perspective: the workings of the human mind. Breaking with the traditional organization of a linguistics textbook, Isac and Reiss juxtapose an engaging presentation of linguistic analysis with exciting discussion of relevant aspects from cognitive science and philosophy. This is arguably the most stimulating introductory textbook around today, offering an approach that I now know was sorely missed. - Dr Jan-Wouter Zwart, University of Groningen