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Function, Selection, and Innateness - The Emergence of Language Universals (Hardcover)
Loot Price: R4,802
Discovery Miles 48 020
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Function, Selection, and Innateness - The Emergence of Language Universals (Hardcover)
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Total price: R4,822
Discovery Miles: 48 220
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This book explores issues at the core of modern linguistics and
cognitive science. Why are all languages similar in some ways and
in others utterly different? Why do languages change and change
variably? How did the human capacity for language evolve, and how
far did it do so as an innate ability? Simon Kirby looks at these
questions from a broad perspective, arguing that they can (indeed
must) be studied together. The author begins by examining how far
the universal properties of language may be explained by examining
the way it is used, and how far by the way it is structured. He
then considers what insights may be gained by combining functional
and formal approaches. In doing so he develops a way of treating
language as an adaptive system, in which its communicative and
formal roles are both crucial and complementary. In order to test
the effectiveness of competing theories and explanations, Simon
Kirby develops computational models to show what universals emerge
given a particular theory of language use or acquisition. He
presents here both the methodology and the results. Function,
Selection, and Innateness is important for its argument, its
methodology, and its conclusions. It is a powerful demonstration of
the value of looking at language as an adaptive system and goes to
the heart of current debates on the evolution and nature of
language.
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