Words and Rules: The Ingredients of Language

Steven Pinker

HarperCollins, Oct 24, 2000 - Language Arts & Disciplines - 349 pages

How does language work, and how do we learn to speak? Why do languages change over time, and why do they have so many quirks and irregularities? In this original and totally entertaining book written in the same engaging style that illuminated his bestselling classics, The Language Instinct and How the Mind Works, Seven Pinker explores the profound mysteries of language.

By picking a deceptively simple phenomenon--regular and irregular verbs--Pinker connects an astonishing array of topics in the sciences and the humanities: the history of languages; the theories of Noam Chomosky and his critics; the attempts to create language using computer simulations of neural networks; what there is to learn from children's grammatical "mistakes"; the latest techniques in identifying genes and imaging the brain; and major ideas in the history of Western philosophy. He makes sense of all this with the help of a single, powerful idea: that language comprises a mental dictionary of memorized words and a mental grammer of creative rules. His theory extends beyond language and offers insight in the very nature of the human mind.

What people are saying

Review: Words and Rules (Science Masters)

User Review  - DeAnne - Goodreads

I can't decide how to rate this... Parts of it were fascinating. Parts of it went over my head. I probably should have read a book on basic linguistics and language formation and some books on theory before I tried this one.

Review: Words and Rules (Science Masters)

User Review  - Val - Goodreads

Who ever said you couldn't write a book about verbs and grammar and make it fun to read never read this one by Dr. Pinker. A gem for linguists and writers and anyone interested in structuring a sentence.

Contents

• Dissection by Linguistics: 21
• Of Mice and Men: 147
• Kids Say the Darnedest Things: 189
• The Horrors of the German Language: 211
• The Black Box: 241
• Glossary: 289
• Notes: 297
• References: 313
• Index: 335

About the author

One of Time magazine's "100 Most Influential People in the World Today," Steven Pinker is the author of seven books, including How the Mind Works and The Blank Slate—both Pulitzer Prize finalists and winners of the William James Book Award. He is an award-winning researcher and teacher, and a frequent contributor to Time and the New York Times.

Bibliographic information

• Title: Words and Rules: The Ingredients of Language
• Author: Steven Pinker
• Edition: illustrated, reprint
• Publisher: HarperCollins, 2000
• ISBN: 0060958405, 9780060958404
• Length: 349 pages
• Subjects: Language Arts & Disciplines / General; Language Arts & Disciplines / Grammar & Punctuation; Language Arts & Disciplines / Linguistics / General; Psychology / General