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Books > Language & Literature > Language & linguistics > Semantics (meaning) > Lexicography
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The Prism of Grammar - How Child Language Illuminates Humanism (Paperback)
Loot Price: R1,296
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The Prism of Grammar - How Child Language Illuminates Humanism (Paperback)
Series: The Prism of Grammar
Expected to ship within 10 - 15 working days
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Exploring the creativity of mind through children's language: how
the tiniest utterances can illustrate the simple but abstract
principles behind modern grammar-and reveal the innate structures
of the mind. Every sentence we hear is instantly analyzed by an
inner grammar; just as a prism refracts a beam of light, grammar
divides a stream of sound, linking diverse strings of information
to different domains of mind-memory, vision, emotions, intentions.
In The Prism of Grammar, Tom Roeper brings the abstract principles
behind modern grammar to life by exploring the astonishing
intricacies of child language. Adult expressions provide endless
puzzles for the child to solve. The individual child's solutions
("Don't uncomfortable the cat" is one example) may amuse adults but
they also reveal the complexity of language and the challenges of
mastering it. The tiniest utterances, says Roeper, reflect the
whole mind and engage the child's free will and sense of dignity.
He offers numerous and novel "explorations"-many at the cutting
edge of current work-that anyone can try, even in conversation
around the dinner table. They elicit how the child confronts
"recursion"-the heartbeat of grammar-through endless possessives
("John's mother's friend's car"), mysterious plurals, contradictory
adjectives, the marvels of ellipsis, and the deep obscurity of
reference ("there it is, right here"). They are not tests of skill;
they are tools for discovery and delight, not diagnosis. Each
chapter on acquisition begins with a commonsense look at how
structures work-moving from the simple to the complex-and then
turns to the literary and human dimensions of grammar. One
important human dimension is the role of dialect in society and in
the lives of children. Roeper devotes three chapters to the
structure of African-American English and the challenge of
responding to linguistic prejudice. Written in a lively style,
accessible and gently provocative, The Prism of Grammar is for
parents and teachers as well as students-for everyone who wants to
understand how children gain and use language-and anyone interested
in the social, philosophical, and ethical implications of how we
see the growing mind emerge.
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