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《Steven Pinker The Language Instinct- How the Mind Creates Language 》由会员上传分享，免费在线阅读，更多相关内容在学术论文-天天文库。
1、STEVENPINKERTHELANGUAGEINSTINCTTheNewScienceofLanguageandMindPENGUINBOOKSforHarryandRoslynPinkerwhogavemelanguagePrefaceIhavenevermetapersonwhoisnotinterestedinlanguage.Iwrotethisbooktotrytosatisfythatcuriosity.Languageisbeginningtosubmittothatuniquelysatisfyingk
2、indofunderstandingthatwecallscience,butthenewshasbeenkeptasecret.Forthelanguagelover,Ihopetoshowthatthereisaworldofeleganceandrichnessinquotidianspeechthatfaroutshinesthelocalcuriositiesofetymologies,unusualwords,andfinepointsofusage.Forthereaderofpopularscience,
3、Ihopetoexplainwhatisbehindtherecentdiscoveries(or,inmanycases,nondiscoveries)reportedinthepress:universaldeepstructures,brainybabies,grammargenes,artificiallyintelligentcomputers,neuralnetworks,signingchimps,talkingNeanderthals,idiotsavants,feralchildren,paradoxi
4、calbraindamage,identicaltwinsseparatedatbirth,colorpicturesofthethink•ingbrain,andthesearchforthemotherofalllanguages.Ialsohopetoanswermanynaturalquestionsaboutlanguages,likewhytherearesomanyofthem,whytheyaresohardforadultstolearn,andwhynooneseemstoknowthepluralo
5、fWalkman.Forstudentsunawareofthescienceoflanguageandmind,orworse,burdenedwithmemorizingwordfrequencyeffectsonlexicaldecisionreactiontimeorthefinepointsoftheEmptyCategoryPrinciple,Ihopetoconveythegrandintellectualexcitementthatlaunchedthemodernstudyoflanguagesever
6、aldecadesago.Formyprofessionalcolleagues,scatteredacrosssomanydisciplinesandstudyingsomanyseeminglyunrelatedtopics,Ihopetoofferasemblanceofanintegrationofthisvastterritory.AlthoughIaman78Prefaceopinionated,obsessionalresearcherwhodislikesinsipidcompromisesthatfuz
7、zuptheissues,manyacademiccontroversiesremindmeoftheblindmenpalpatingtheelephant.Ifmypersonalsynthesisseemstoembracebothsidesofdebateslike"formalismversusfunctional-ism"or"syntaxversussemanticsversuspragmatics,"perhapsitisbecausetherewasneveranissuetheretobeginwit
8、h.Forthegeneralnonfictionreader,interestedinlanguageandhu•manbeingsinthebroadestsense,Ihopetooffersomethingdifferentfromtheairyplatitudes—LanguageLite—thattypi
