Items related to Words and Rules: The Ingredients of Language
Synopsis
DIFFERENT OFFER (this item listed here is DIFFERENT from the title and/or picture above. Please see description & pictures by BookGems before placing an order): Edition Weidenfeld & Nicolson, Second Impression, 1999. ISBN: 978-0-297-81647-8. HARDBACK. 362 pages, size: 16.4 x 24 x 3 cm. Just light tan to paper edges. Other than that, the unread book remains in excellent condition throughout: dust cover intact; green cloth hard cover bright with gilt lettering on spine; text all clean, neat and tight. Prompt dispatch from UK.
"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.
Review
Steven Pinker has a very good ear; you know it instantly from his prose: elegant, accessible and very witty indeed. In Words and Rules, Pinker picks apart our language to reveal pro found truths about how we think.
Do we deduce rules from the world around us and behave rationally? Or do we free-associate, discovering the world through experience and creative analogy? The obvious answer is "both". But proof of the obvious answer has long eluded philosophers of mind. Pinker, though, believes he has found it--in the English past tense.
English verbs come in two flavours. Regular verbs have past tenses that look like the present-tense verb with "-ed" on the end--today I walk, yesterday I walked, etc. The second kind of English verb is irregular. Irregular past tenses follow no rules--today I buy, but yesterday I bought; today I hold, yesterday I held.
The way children distinguish between these different sorts of verbs as they learn to talk suggests they learn both by rule and by association. Proving this is Pinker's task--and it's a bravura performance.
It takes nothing away from that other recent lit-hit, Bill Bryson's Mother Tongue, to say that Pinker's book achieves an altogether deeper level of profundity. It says much for Pinker that in doing so, he can still match Bryson for wit and readability. --Simon Ings
Review
"[An excellent work of popular science."--Thomas Nagel, The New Republic
"the book provides a scholarly, persuasive, enjoyable, and eminently readable account of important language phenomena."--Nature
"Compelling and revelatory."--Guardian
"An intellectual joyride."--Globe and Mail
"Not only does Pinker breathe life into the topic, he makes the reading breathtakingly exciting."--Montreal Gazette
"A fascinating voyage of discovery."--Sunday Telegraph
"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.
- PublisherBasic Books
- Publication date1999
- ISBN 10 0465072690
- ISBN 13 9780465072699
- BindingHardcover
- LanguageEnglish
- Edition number1
- Number of pages348
Other Popular Editions of the Same Title
Search results for Words and Rules: The Ingredients of Language
Stock Image
Words And Rules: The Ingredients Of Language (Science Masters Series)
Seller: SecondSale, Montgomery, IL, U.S.A.
Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars
Condition: Acceptable. Item in good condition. Textbooks may not include supplemental items i.e. CDs, access codes etc. Seller Inventory # 00066310098
Quantity: 1 available
Stock Image
Words and Rules: The Ingredien
Seller: SecondSale, Montgomery, IL, U.S.A.
Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars
Condition: Very Good. Item in very good condition! Textbooks may not include supplemental items i.e. CDs, access codes etc. Seller Inventory # 00085526950
Quantity: 2 available
Stock Image
Words and Rules: The Ingredien
Seller: SecondSale, Montgomery, IL, U.S.A.
Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars
Condition: Good. Item in good condition. Textbooks may not include supplemental items i.e. CDs, access codes etc. Seller Inventory # 00085743391
Quantity: 2 available
Seller Image
Words And Rules: The Ingredients Of Language (Science Masters Series)
Seller: Reliant Bookstore, El Dorado, KS, U.S.A.
Seller rating 4 out of 5 stars
Condition: good. This book is in good condition with very minimal damage. Pages may have minimal notes or highlighting. Cover image on the book may vary from photo. Ships out quickly in a secure plastic mailer. Seller Inventory # RDV.0465072690.G
Quantity: 1 available
Seller Image
Words And Rules: The Ingredients Of Language (Science Masters Series)
Seller: ZBK Books, Carlstadt, NJ, U.S.A.
Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars
Condition: good. Used book in good and clean conditions. Pages and cover are intact. Limited notes marks and highlighting may be present. May show signs of normal shelf wear and bends on edges. Item may be missing CDs or access codes. May include library marks. Fast Shipping. Seller Inventory # ZWM.DC62
Quantity: 1 available
Seller Image
Words And Rules: The Ingredients Of Language (Science Masters Series)
Seller: ZBK Books, Carlstadt, NJ, U.S.A.
Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars
Condition: good. Used book in good and clean conditions. Pages and cover are intact. Limited notes marks and highlighting may be present. May show signs of normal shelf wear and bends on edges. Item may be missing CDs or access codes. May include library marks. Fast Shipping. Seller Inventory # ZWM.HWOV
Quantity: 1 available
Seller Image
Words And Rules: The Ingredients Of Language (Science Masters Series)
Seller: ZBK Books, Carlstadt, NJ, U.S.A.
Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars
Condition: acceptable. Used book - May contain writing, notes, highlighting, bends or folds. Text is readable, book is clean, and pages and cover mostly intact. May show normal wear and tear. Item may be missing CD. May include library marks. Fast Shipping. Seller Inventory # ZWM.LN5T
Quantity: 1 available
Seller Image
Words And Rules: The Ingredients Of Language (Science Masters Series)
Seller: ZBK Books, Carlstadt, NJ, U.S.A.
Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars
Condition: acceptable. Used book - May contain writing, notes, highlighting, bends or folds. Text is readable, book is clean, and pages and cover mostly intact. May show normal wear and tear. Item may be missing CD. May include library marks. Fast Shipping. Seller Inventory # ZWM.MO03
Quantity: 1 available
Stock Image
Words And Rules: The Ingredients Of Language (Science Masters Series)
Seller: Wonder Book, Frederick, MD, U.S.A.
Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars
Condition: Good. Good condition. Good dust jacket. A copy that has been read but remains intact. May contain markings such as bookplates, stamps, limited notes and highlighting, or a few light stains. Bundled media such as CDs, DVDs, floppy disks or access codes may not be included. Seller Inventory # T12G-00976
Quantity: 3 available
Stock Image
Words and Rules: The Ingredients of Language
Seller: ThriftBooks-Reno, Reno, NV, U.S.A.
Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars
Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. No Jacket. Missing dust jacket; May have limited writing in cover pages. Pages are unmarked. ~ ThriftBooks: Read More, Spend Less 1.54. Seller Inventory # G0465072690I4N01
Quantity: 1 available