LINGUIST List 16.2480
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Thu Aug 25 2005
Books: Ling Theories/Syntax: Cann, Kempson, Marten
Editor for this issue: Megan Zdrojkowski
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Directory
1. Ellie Brown
Ellie,
The Dynamics of Language, 35: Cann, Kempson, Marten
Message 1: The Dynamics of Language, 35: Cann, Kempson, Marten
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Date: 24-Aug-2005
From: Ellie Brown Ellie <Ellie.Brownelsevier.com>
Subject: The Dynamics of Language, 35: Cann, Kempson, Marten
Title: The Dynamics of Language, 35
Series Title: Syntax and Semantics
Published: 2005
Publisher: Elsevier Ltd.
http://www.elsevier.com/linguistics
Book URL: http://www.elsevier.com/linguistics
Author: Ronnie Cann, University of Edinburgh
Author: Ruth Kempson, King's College, University of London
Author: Lutz Marten, University of London
Hardback: ISBN: 0126135355 Pages: 456 Price: U.S. $ 155
Abstract:
For the whole of the last half-century, most theoretical syntacticians have
assumed that knowledge of language is different from the tasks of speaking
and understanding. There have been some dissenters, but, by and large, this
view still holds sway. This book takes a different view: it continues the
task set in hand by Kempson et al (2001) of arguing that the common-sense
intuition is correct that knowledge of language consists in being able to
use it in speaking and understanding. The Dynamics of Language argues that
interpretation is built up across as sequence of words relative to some
context and that this is all that is needed to explain the structural
properties of language. The dynamics of how interpretation is built up is
the syntax of a language system. The authors' first task is to convey to a
general linguistic audience with a minimum of formal apparatus, the
substance of that formal system. Secondly, as linguists, they set
themselves the task of applying the formal system to as broad an array of
linguistic puzzles as possible, the languages analysed ranging from English
to Japanese and Swahili.
"This book makes an uncommon achievement in successfully using detailed
analyses of typologically diverse languages to address foundational
questions about what it means to know a language and about the relation
between speaking and understanding. This book will be of interest to
anybody who is serious about the cognitive science of syntax and semantics."
Colin Phillips, University of Maryland, USA
"For anyone interested in the basic nature of natural language syntax, this
book is a necessary, and enjoyable, read. The authors provide a new take on
how interpretations are constructed by language users,and back up their
general theoretical proposals with original analyses of an eclectic range
of linguistic phenomena. The exposition is clear and engaging-and
challenging. You will have some of your assumptions shaken up; whether they
fall back in place, or are radically rearranged, the experience is
stimulating."
Caroline Heycock, University of Edinburgh, UK
Linguistic Field(s):
Cognitive Science
Linguistic Theories
Semantics
Syntax
Written In: English (eng )
See this book announcement on our website:
http://linguistlist.org/get-book.html?BookID=16196
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