Storage and Computation in the Language Faculty |
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Editor:
| Nooteboom, Sieb Weerman, Fred Wijnen, Frank |
Series title: | Studies in Theoretical Psycholinguistics Ser. |
ISBN: | 978-1-4020-0527-5 |
Publication Date: | May 2002 |
Publisher: | Springer Netherlands
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Imprint: | Springer |
Book Format: | Paperback |
List Price: | USD $99.99USD $54.99 |
Book Description:
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Every now and again I receive a lengthy manuscript from a kind of theoretician known to psychiatrists as the "triangle people" - kooks who have independently discovered that everything in the universe comes in threes (solid , liquid, gas; protons, neutrons, electrons; the Father, the Son, the Holy Ghost ; Moe, Larry, Curly; and so on) . At the risk of sounding like a triangle person, let me explain why I think that the topic of this volume - - storage and computation in the language...
More DescriptionEvery now and again I receive a lengthy manuscript from a kind of theoretician known to psychiatrists as the "triangle people" - kooks who have independently discovered that everything in the universe comes in threes (solid , liquid, gas; protons, neutrons, electrons; the Father, the Son, the Holy Ghost ; Moe, Larry, Curly; and so on) . At the risk of sounding like a triangle person, let me explain why I think that the topic of this volume - - storage and computation in the language fac ulty - though having just two sides rather than three, is the key to understanding every interesting issue in the study of language. I will begin with the fundamental scientific problem in linguistics: explaining the vast expressive power of language. What is the trick behind our ability to filleach others' heads with so many different ideas? I submit there is not one trick but two, and they have been emphasized by different thinkers throughout the history of linguistics.