Subject: new books in psycholinguistics & neurolinguistics

the ascent of babel : an exploration of language , mind , and understanding gerry t . m . altmann , university of york " altmann has written a cross between a textbook for beginning psycholinguistic students and a popular science book for laypersons . . . . altmann explains in lay terms what psycholinguistics is and how its findings affect what we know of human experience . " - - booklist language is one of the faculties that sets humans apart from animals , the crucial thing which makes our complex social interactions possible . it is a faculty which demands fantastically intricate mental and physical coordination , yet babies possess a remarkable ability to learn its complexities from a very early age . the ascent of babel explores the ways in which the mind produces and understands language : the ways in which the sounds of language evoke meaning , and the ways in which the desire to communicate causes us to produce those sounds to begin with . the " ascent " symbolises different things : the progression from sound to meaning , the ascent that we each undergo , from birth onwards , as we learn our mother tongue , and the quest to understand the mental processes which underlie our use of language . gerry altmann leads the reader on this ascent , which comprises a fascinating tour : from how babies learn language and how we discriminate between different sounds , through comprehension of the sounds and structures of language ( and the pitfalls along the way ) , to the production of spoken and written language , the effects of brain damage on language , and finally the ways in which computer simulations of interconnecting nerve cells can learn language . it is a journey of discovery , written in an engaging and witty style , at the end of which it becomes clear that babel 's summit - the secret of language - may actually lie at its foundations , where babies play and language is learned . december 1997 272 pp . ; 46 linecuts 0-19 - 852378 - 5 $ 27 . 50 oxford university press cognitive foundations of grammar bernd heine , university of cologne , germany the main function of language is to convey meaning . therefore , argues bernd heine in these pages , the question of why language is structured the way it is must first of all be answered with reference to this function . linguistic explanations offered in terms of other exponents of language structure ( for example , syntax ) are likely to highlight peripheral or epi-phenomenal - - rather than central - - characteristics of language structure . heine provides a solid introductory treatment of the ways in which language structure ( that is , grammar ) and language usage can be explained with reference to the processes underlying human conceptualization and communication . exploring an area of linguistics that has developed only recently and is rapidly expanding , cognitive foundations of grammar will appeal to students of linguistics , psychology , and anthropology , especially those interested in grammaticalization processess . november 1997 200 pp . ; 11 linecuts 0-19 - 510252 - 5 paper $ 19 . 95 0-19 - 510251 - 7 cloth $ 45 . 00 oxford university press narrative comprehension : a discourse perspective catherine emmott , university of glasgow there has so far been relatively little research by cognitive linguists on the comprehension of narrative texts . this book draws on insights from discourse analysis and artificial intelligence to explore how readers construct and maintain mental representations of fictional characters and contexts , and goes on to consider the implications of cognitive modelling for grammatical theory and a literary-linguistic model of narrative text-types . june 1997 336 pp . ; 5 text-figures 0-19 - 823649 - 2 $ 80 . 00 oxford university press the inheritance and innateness of grammars edited by myrna gopnik , mcgill university , canada ( vancouver studies in cognitive science 6 ) is language somehow innate in the structure of the human brain , or is it completely learned ? this debate is still at the heart of linguistics , especially as it intersects with psychology and cognitive science . in collecting papers which discuss the evidence and arguments regarding this difficult question , the inheritance and innateness of grammars considers cases ranging from infants who are just beginning to learn the properties of a native language to language-impaired adults who will never learn one . these studies show that , while precursors of language exist in other creatures , the abilities necessary for constructing full-fledged grammars are part of the biological endowment of human beings . the essays that comprise this volume test the range and specificity of that endowment , while also contributing to our understanding of the intricate and complex relationship between language and biology . june 1997 240 pp . ; 44 linecuts 0-19 - 511534 - 1 paper $ 29 . 95 0-19 - 511533 - 3 cloth $ 60 . 00 oxford university press for more information about linguistics titles from oxford university press : e-mail : linguistics @ oup-usa . org or visit the oxford university press usa web site : http : / / www . oup-usa . org oxford university press usa
