The Key to Language

Description:

If you want to use language effectively you must first know what it is. The most common thought about language is that it is a set of words or symbols. We compare languages such as Swahili, Mandarin Chinese, English, French. We say they all have different words and different grammars. But what are their similarities, that is, what is language? This volume presents a unique answer to this question. It also offers unique answers to questions such as: What is meaning? Why do children learn their first language as quickly and as easily as they do? And more. This book is not an easy read but it will well reward anyone who makes the effort.

subjects: language,  linguistics,  psychology,  meaning,  key,  language acquisition,  innateness,  mentalese,  communication,  mind,  animals,  concept,  abstract,  semantics,  experience,  universal,  grammar,  philosophy,  symbol,  human understanding,  objectify

People: Noam Chomsky (1928-),  Steven Pinker,  Ferdinand de Saussure,  John Locke,  Albert Einstein,  Vivien Law,  Aristotle,  Plato,  Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679),  Johann Wolfgang vonGoethe,  Edward Sapir,  Benjamin Lee Whorf